Tangled Ambition
by DarklessVasion
Summary: Summary – Trouble is brewing again, but from a new direction and the past won’t stay where it belongs. Can the Inu gang save their precious friend? Sequel to "Colors of Life." (Second story - COMPLETE!)
1. Gather and Hunt

Tangled Ambitions  
  
A/N- Hello! This is my second fanfic...I had such good response from my first that another plot appeared and it started almost writing itself. Enjoy! *^- ^*  
  
A few translations - Taijiya = demon exterminator – nani = what? – hai = yes – Kitsune = fox-demon  
  
Disclaimer – I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. They are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation that I hope is up to the quality of the real series.  
  
Summary – Trouble is brewing again, but from a new direction and the past won't stay where it belongs. Can the Inu gang save their precious friend?  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Chapter 1: Gather and Hunt  
  
The morning is sunny and cool, with just a hint of the heat that would come later in the day. Quite a rustic setting with the village and surrounding countryside, the cultivated fields and untouched forests.  
  
Kaede is pulling weeds with some of the other villagers among the new seedlings. The elderly woman easily keeps up with the younger ones working on other rows. She hears another bored sigh, smiles to herself and continues working, 'Ah...the young.'  
  
Behind her sits an odd creature; smaller that a normal human child with a wealth of golden-brown hair tied up with a bright sky-blue bow, pointy ears and fox-paws sticking out where feet would usually be. But the oddest and most noticeable feature was the Kitsune's very bushy tail, a bit lighter in color than the hair on his head, twitching at his small backside.  
  
Shippo is slowly tearing a flower apart, plucking the petals one by one and watching them drift to the ground. 'I wish Miroku and Sango had let me come with them.'  
  
The Monk and Taijiya had gone the day before to another village that was reported to be having a demon problem, taking Kirara with them. The cute little kitsune pouted, 'I could've helped...'  
  
He sighs again, tossed the denuded stem and leans back against the fence post with his hands behind his head. 'At least InuYasha isn't here to pick on me.' He wrinkles his nose and let's out a little snort, 'He isn't any fun to tease without Kagome here anyway.'  
  
He sighs once more, his face turning wistful, "Kaede?"  
  
"Hmm...?" the old woman continues with her work, knowing what he'll ask and keeping her smile turned away.  
  
His eyes lift to gaze at the drifting white clouds, "When did Kagome say she'd be back?"  
  
She scootches over to a new area and answers, "She said three days...that be yesterday, so...the morning after tomorrow."  
  
Kaede continues to pull up unwanted greenery, the distant chatting of her co-workers a comfortable sound, an audible measure of their overall contentment.  
  
The weather had been favorable so far, boding well for a good crop this season. And the other problems had mostly disappeared ever since that odd group had taken to residing in the village as a home base for their searching.  
  
And what a very odd group they were. The fully trained and experienced Demon Exterminator Sango, with her faithful cat-youkai companion Kirara – A bonus for any village to claim. The lecherous Monk Miroku – His extraordinary spiritual calling and powers was truly inspirational...and his personal habits definitely kept the men-folk on their toes.  
  
Kaede chuckles under her breath and shakes her head. 'If he's not careful, one of these days that Taijiya will feed him his own head,' she reaches for another weed as she recalls the many times fire had flashed in the young woman's eyes at the Houshi's behavior.  
  
Her smile turns soft thinking of the girl that Shippo waited impatiently for, the girl who was the glue that held the little but potent group together...Kagome. So much like her sister with her generous spirit, quick mind and fierce protectiveness. But coupled with a hot temper, open mind and willingness to follow and sometimes bend the rules made her unique from anyone the old Miko had ever encountered.  
  
Her smile fades and she breathes a sigh of her own, '...InuYasha.' Thoughts of her sister always brought that quixotic hanyou to mind. How could they not? Their past is a long and tangled one.  
  
She still can remember the day Kikyo died; the Hanyou's attack and destruction on the village, the young Miko's bloody appearance and swift judgement, and her self-recrimination and dying request...no order. "Burn this Tama with my body...I will take it with me into the next world." Kaede stops with her hands lying palms up on her lap, seeing not the dirt and greenish stains there, but her sister's blood. She whispers, "Onee-sama..."  
  
It was all so long ago and something she had considered finished while growing up. With her sister dead and the Shikon no Tama gone, it should have ended Kikyo's story.  
  
How many years had gone by before she could release her hatred? Before she could look upon her sister's killer, that dreadful creature that had taken her beloved sister from her, without wanting to...  
  
She shuddered in the warm sunlight, her thoughts turning dark.  
  
And then this girl shows up, reminding her strongly of her sister and bringing the Shikon no Tama back. She then revives and releases that crazy- dangerous InuYasha, something no one should have been able to do.  
  
And how good to know, when his innocence is brought to light, that she had not damaged her own soul with committing violence upon his slumbering form.  
  
Another day she will never forget; setting eyes upon the living face of her dead sister. Reanimated in an attempt to claim shards of the Tama, Kikyo turned on Urusue, the youkai woman who had thought to control her and her abilities. Kikyo then recalled the day of her death and screamed at the silver-haired hanyou, "InuYasha...Why did you betray me?!"  
  
His honest bewilderment reinforced the thought that there was more going on than was obvious. Kaede had been trying to match up this hanyou that was rowdy and surly but not cruel, with the things she had always believed he had done. And when he looked at her, confusion rampant on his face, and claimed, "I do not remember doing this thing!" – her suspicion grew.  
  
Finding out that he and Kikyo had been in love and had made plans to be together from Kikyo's own mouth, had been shocking. But it only reinforced the thought that InuYasha couldn't have hurt her and created more questions.  
  
Now her sister roams the earth in an unnatural life, collecting souls of the dead to keep her false form animated, desiring revenge...and dwelling on her past claim on InuYasha.  
  
Kaede focuses on her hands again, looking past the dirt at the signs of aging there, feeling the pull of muscles protesting across her back, the creak of joints as she shifted. She knew she would have to take some the tonic that she only used to make for the older people of her village and now must use to ease the swelling in her own joints.  
  
'Oh Cruel Life...to bring the proof of Kikyo's death too late, when I am too old to deliver justice myself.' A frown deepens the wrinkles on her face, 'That Naraku has much to answer for.'  
  
She sighs, flexes her fingers and reaches for another weed. 'Ah well, I will leave the chasing to those that are more suited for it...' yanking at a stubborn root, 'And I will do all I can to help in my own way.'  
  
Her sudden smile creases her eyes almost shut as her mind pictures the stubborn hanyou with his face in the dirt, 'It's almost worth it just to see that InuYasha on a leash.'  
  
She snickers to herself, 'He was always too wild by far.' The weed finally comes up with a small clod of dirt attached to its roots, and she smirks and glances furtively behind her. The weedy clump goes flying...and lands on the unsuspecting Kitsune's head.  
  
"Hey!" Shippo jumps up and brushes furiously at the dirt in his hair.  
  
Kaede turns and look innocently at him, "Hmm...?" A harmless old woman, puzzled then contrite. "Eh Shippo, I'm sorry," inwardly amused, "I guess I tossed it harder than I thought."  
  
He looks at her suspiciously and then shrugs, still brushing little particles off of his clothes.  
  
"Shippo!" Two high voices in unison turn his attention toward a pair of very young girls, carrying woven baskets, who come skipping over to look at him through the fence rails. Satome, slightly shorter than her sister Namika, speaks up, "We're going gathering, wanna come?" Two earnest faces stare at him impatiently.  
  
Shippo looks at Kaede where she knelt in the dirt. The old woman smiles at him, "That sounds like a good idea." She looks at the enamoured pair and then back at the hesitating Kitsune, "They could use someone strong to protect them."  
  
The girls giggle behind their hands, blushing identically as that 'someone' stands proudly and nods in agreement, "You're right, Kaede." He hops over the fence and the three head off together.  
  
Kaede continues to smile while watching the happy trio go on their little quest. 'Yes,' she goes back to her chore, 'I will leave the young to the young.' She chuckles again, 'And enjoy the performance when I can.'  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
By midday, the youngsters had filled the baskets with various useful items, and had plenty of fun doing so; making up games to make it seem less like work. Their favorite game was making up silly rhymes for each thing they found. The sillier the rhyme, the louder their giggles grew.  
  
Finally with rosy cheeks and garlanded with flowers and leaves, they were ready to head back to the village, hungry for the noon meal. Halfway back Shippo stops to sniff the air and the two girls turn to look at him questioningly. "Hmm..." He grins at them, "Acorns!"  
  
Satome smiles at him then looks at her and her sister's full baskets with a vexed frown, "But we can't carry any more."  
  
Shippo thinks for a moment, "You two go on ahead while I find out exactly where they are." He smiles winsomely at them, "I'll meet you after we eat, we'll grab some sacks and I'll lead you right to them."  
  
The girls quickly agree and turn towards home as Shippo follows his nose deeper into the forest.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"Kaede-sama?"  
  
Kaede lifted the door flap at the sound of the giggling request. Satome and Namika, their eyes shining with mischief and small bundles under their arms, stood there. "Nani?"  
  
"Is Shippo ready to go?" Namika was trying to peek around the old woman for their friend inside.  
  
"Shippo?" She looked from one girl to the other, "I thought he was with ye?"  
  
Satome giggled again, remembering their fun that morning, "Hai, Kaede-sama. We found lots of good things." She held up her empty sack, "Our baskets were full and couldn't hold anymore when he smelled acorns nearby..."  
  
Namika also held out her sack and continued, "He said he would find them for us and show us where they were."  
  
Kaede looked thoughtful and asked, "Are you sure he said acorns?"  
  
The two girls nodded in unison.  
  
"Hmm..." Kaede turned her gaze towards the forest across the fields, then stepped out and took the girls by their shoulders and turned them towards their home, "Those acorns must be giving him quite a chase, so maybe ye should find something else to do this afternoon." She gives them a gentle push, "I'm sure they'll still be there tomorrow."  
  
The two pouting little girls trudge off with heads hanging and shoulders drooped, "Hai Kaede-sama," the picture of youthful disappointment.  
  
Kaede watches them go then turns to scan the forest edge for the small energetic kitsune, an uneasy feeling stealing over her the longer she stands there. 'It's the wrong time for acorns...' She looks up at the sun to gage the time and looks back at the distant trees. 'I'm probably worrying over-much...'  
  
Finally, prodded by her intuition of wrongness, she steps into her hut to gather her bow and quiver of arrows and leaves the village to head determinedly towards the forest.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The huge cream colored cat-youkai with black-tipped twin tails and flames trailing her path through the sky ignored the argument between the two humans riding on her back as she tries to reach their destination before full dark.  
  
"We could have stayed another night Sango!" Miroku raised his voice to be heard over the rushing wind. He held on tightly to the waist of the attractive young woman riding in front of him, with the giant boomerang slung across her back as solid a barrier between them as her irritation.  
  
"Oh no, Houshi-sama!" She yelled firmly back at him. "That would not have been a good idea at all!" She flexed her fingers in the soft fur on the cat's ruff.  
  
"They only wanted to thank us!" He sighed but it was lost in the air whipping past them.  
  
"It wasn't the 'thanks' that was the problem, it was 'who' wanted to do the thanking!" Shaking her head in disgust at the remembered picture of the boyishly-charming Monk surrounded by a small group of impressed young women...and their suspicious men growing angrier with every flirtatious laugh.  
  
"Couldn't we have at least stayed to eat? They were...ulp!" He almost swallowed his tongue at the hard look she gave him over her shoulder.  
  
"No! We couldn't!" She turned back to look forward, her ponytail whapping him in the face.  
  
He leaned to the side and bent closer to be heard, "But-" He let out a yelp and grabbed tighter as Kirara suddenly went into an unexpected dive, curved sharply to the right then straightened and leveled out. Sango's laughter rang out, "Forget it, Houshi-sama!" She patted the big cat's neck in affection and felt the rumble of acknowledgement under her hands, "Kirara agrees with me, and unless you want to walk the rest of the way..."  
  
Miroku settles back and sighs again, an expression of infinite patience marred by a crooked smile crosses his face as he stares at the back of her head. "Ah well..." He shrugs and glances down at the forested hills and cultivated fields down below, the lengthening shadows creating deep pockets of darkness in sharp contrast with the bright greens highlighted by the lowering sun. "Looks like we'll be back to Kaede's soon."  
  
She looks down, spotting landmarks from long experience at aerial surveys and nods. "Hai." She pats Kirara's neck again, grateful to not have to face camping out alone with the lecherous Monk with the wandering hands, not sure who she trusted less, him...or herself. Her fingers tightened in the thick fur, a blush heating her cheeks and making her glad he was behind her unable to witness her discomposure.  
  
The rest of the trip was continued in silence, arriving at Kaede's village just as the last of the suns rays disappeared beyond the horizon. A few people coming in late from the fields headed for their individual dwellings, cook-fires already lit to welcome them, the smoke rising and blending with the oncoming colors of the evening sky.  
  
Kirara lands in front on Kaede's home and holds still for her passengers to step down. With a flare of spinning flames the youkai shrinks to about the size of a normal cat, her twin tails the only visible sign of her uniqueness. She squeaks and leaps into her mistress' arms to be cradled, purring in contentment.  
  
Miroku watches her cuddle the cat with something like envy before turning away and walking over to the doorway of Kaede's hut. "Kaede-sama?" He lifts the flap to duck inside, "We're back..." his voice loud in the silent interior, very dark without the fire lit. He turns back to the doorway as Sango lifts the flap to enter.  
  
She stops at the darkness there, barely able to see the Monk right in front of her, and steps back to allow him out. "Houshi-sama?"  
  
"Kaede's not here." He looks back at the dark hut then glances around at the other buildings of the village. "I suppose she could be with one of the villagers..."  
  
Sango strokes the dozing cat and looks toward the other homes too. "Well, she should be back soon," she steps around him, "I will get us something to eat while we wait," and enters the hut.  
  
He stands outside for a few minutes, watching the stars beginning to appear in the darkening sky and listening to the homey sounds of Sango starting the fire and the light clanking of crockery. He stretches with a sigh and picks up a few pieces of firewood from the pile before going inside.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Sango wakes up with Kirara snuggled next to her and sees Miroku still sitting across from the fire where he had been last night, he hadn't moved but he was asleep. 'He actually looks serious while sleeping...' She sits up and glances around at the otherwise empty looking room, and frowns.  
  
She whispers, "Houshi-sama..." Loath to wake him, 'He couldn't have gotten much sleep sitting up like that.' She tries again a little louder, "Houshi- sama?"  
  
He jerks awake, blinks blearily and smiles at her sweetly causing her to blush.  
  
Sango reaches over to prod through the ashes at the smoldering coals, adding some small sticks to bring the fire back to life and to distract herself. "It's morning." Carefully not looking at him she puts a small pot on to heat, "Shippo and Kaede-sama have not returned."  
  
Miroku stops in mid-stretch, taking his eyes off her prettily blushing face and finally notices their absence. He frowns and rests his chin in his hand thoughtfully, "She could be helping someone and stayed the night there..." He didn't sound too convinced at his own reasoning.  
  
Kirara chirrups and butts her head against Sango's knee. She reaches down to stroke the cat and follows his thought, "She didn't expect us back until later today and saw no reason to be...here?" She looked at him with a frown, "But still..."  
  
Sounds of the village stirring and starting their busy day drifted in. The Monk stands up, "I'm going to ask around."  
  
Sango nods, moves the little pot to the side, rolls her bedding to stow it away and stands up facing him, "Me too." She opens her arms for Kirara to jump up, "I'd feel better knowing for sure."  
  
Miroku holds the flap open for her and follows her outside, each to head in a different direction.  
  
~*~*~  
  
By noon Sango is back at the hut, peeking inside and making a frustrated sound when she sees it's still empty. Kirara, perched on her shoulder, mews in her ear. She reaches up to touch the cat's paws just as Miroku comes around the corner of the building.  
  
"Sango!" He calls out and she turns. "Any news?"  
  
She shakes her head, "No, no one has seen her since yesterday morning."  
  
He nods, "That's all I could find out as well." He frowns and starts fingering the strand of beads wrapped around his right hand and wrist, a sure sign of his worry.  
  
Sango feels a tug at her clothing and turns to see two little girls smiling up at her. "Hello, Sango-san," a bit of hero-worship was in their eyes. She smiles back, "Hello Satome, Namika."  
  
The taller Namika speaks up, "Is Shippo ready to go now?"  
  
Sango glances at the Monk, who raises an eyebrow at her and shrugs. She turns back to the girls that are now staring at the cute kitty on her shoulder. "Shippo?" she asks.  
  
"Hai," the shorter Satome answered. "He was supposed to show us where we could find some acorns yesterday..."  
  
Namika continues, "...but he was late coming back..."  
  
Satome finishes, "so Kaede-sama told us we could go today."  
  
Sango knelt down to their level and held Kirara out to them so they could pet and admire her. "Coming back from where?" She kept her tone casual.  
  
Namika points towards the forest to the west and Satome says, "from gathering with us yesterday. He's very good at it."  
  
Kirara was sniffing and licking curious fingertips as Sango asks, "When did Kaede-sama say this?"  
  
"Yesterday," Namika giggled. Her sister likewise between giggles gets out, "after the noon meal."  
  
Sango stands up and holds Kirara up so she can look her in the eye. The cat gave a small "merreow" and flicks her ears. She looks back at the mirthful children.  
  
"I'm sorry, but they aren't here." The girls' happy faces turn disappointed. She continues, "But I will tell Shippo that it is wrong to promise something to a lady and not keep it." She winks at the girls and receives new smiles.  
  
The sisters nod and leave, waving good-bye and giggling once more.  
  
Sango turns to Miroku. He had crossed his arms during the conversation and now asks her, "What was that all about?"  
  
She sets the cat down goes inside to grab her things and his staff and steps back outside. "Kirara has their scent," she hands him his staff. "She already knows Kaede and Shippo's," she slings Hiraikotsu across her back. The small twin-tailed cat "mew's" and trots off. Sango smiles at him and waves for him to follow, "She will lead us to them."  
  
~*~*~  
  
'Stupid...stupid...stupid.' The old woman's silent litany repeats itself. 'Stupid!' She tries to flex her foot causing her to gasp and wince in pain, '...stupid!' She takes another sip from the small jar she uses to carry water in. She shakes it, 'half full.' Kaede stoppers the container and sets it back down. 'Stupid...' She leans back against the tree where she had spent the night, trying to ignore her growling stomach. 'I should have told someone, or asked for help.'  
  
She peers up through the dense foliage and guesses the time, 'half a day gone...' She snorts in self-disgust, 'and not doing either of us any good like this.'  
  
The snap of a twig brings her head up and her hand reaches for the bow lying next to her, putting an arrow to the string and aiming it toward the sound, angled diagonally across her sitting position. 'Stupid...' and she waits.  
  
"Kaede-sama!" it was faintly heard followed by a large feline head poking through the bushes; huge fangs and black-tipped ears...the most beautiful sight to the weary woman. She sighs, "Kirara," and rests the bow on her lap and relaxes against her tree as the cat-youkai emerges fully and approaches her.  
  
Kirara sits on her haunches and lets out a roar that has her companions rushing toward them. "Kaede-sama!" Sango gets there first with the Monk right behind. They crouch down on either side of the old woman and each take one of her hands.  
  
Kaede smiles at them, "Thank goodness, I'd hoped ye'd find me but..."  
  
Sango squeezes her hand and leans closer with a worried look, "What happened? Are you alright?"  
  
"The only thing wrong with me is a twisted foot and a bad case of stupidity," she answered. "I tripped badly sometime yesterday afternoon and hurt my foot too badly to walk on it."  
  
"Well, we will have you home quickly with Kirara's help," Miroku said confidently.  
  
Sango looks around the small clearing with a confused expression, "But Kaede-sama, where is Shippo?"  
  
Kaede's worry showed on her wrinkled face and she reached into a pocket, pulled something out and opened her hand to show them, "I came here looking for him, and all I found were these."  
  
In her palm were a small wooden top and a wide blue ribbon.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
A/N – *Gasp* Oh, my...Shippo missing? Can't be good. I know this was a little slow, but don't worry...I have plans! (evil grin) 


	2. Greed

A/N- Hope your ready for this...I think I scared myself.  
  
Single quotes are thoughts ('word') and double quotes are spoken ("word") the darn Italics won't translate in the upload (if anyone knows how, let me know, ne?)  
  
Taijiya is a Demon Exterminator by trade - Kitsune is a fox-demon  
  
Disclaimer – I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. They are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation that I hope is up to the quality of the real series.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
Chapter 2: Greed  
  
The Monk and Taijiya stare at the objects in the old woman's hand with concern for their small owner.  
  
Sango takes the length of blue ribbon and draws it through her fingers, picturing it tied in a jaunty bow on the Kitsune's head. "They definitely belong to him," noting a few golden-brown hairs tangled around it.  
  
"Where did you find them, Kaede-sama?" Miroku takes the wooden top from her, Shippo's favorite prop. 'He wouldn't leave these unless he had no choice...'  
  
Kaede points towards a small rise just visible through the trees, "Up there, next to a large pile of acorns." The three exchange looks; they all knew how the Kitsune loved those nuts.  
  
The old woman continues, "I had my suspicions when Shippo's friend told me he was looking for them. It's the wrong time of year for acorns," she explained.  
  
Sango nodded in agreement, "But why...?"  
  
Kaede looks at the young woman and further explains, "When I found the pile of them – out of season and piled neatly under a tree that they couldn't have come from – I searched the area and found those." She points to the objects in her friend's hands.  
  
"I continued searching and wasn't as careful as I should have been, tripped and rolled down the slope." This was said with some embarrassment. "I should have asked for someone to come with me, or at least said where I was going."  
  
Miroku lays a hand on the Miko's shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze. "We all make mistakes and you couldn't know what would happen." He looks at the top in his hand and gives it back to her, watching her fingers close around it, "...or what you would find."  
  
Sango had stood up and was staring at the small rise. She calls Kirara over and looks at her friends, "I'm going to take a look before we take Kaede- sama back to the village."  
  
She sprints away up the rise with Kirara alongside.  
  
The Monk's eyes follow her until she is out of sight and then he sighs. Kaede slants a look at him, 'If he could only see his face,' she thinks amusedly.  
  
Sango and Kirara stop in the small clearing atop the rise, the pile of acorns lying obviously to one side. She walks over to inspect them, crouching down and picking up first one then another, comparing them. 'These are from different kinds of trees.'  
  
Aware of the huge cat-youkai walking the perimeter, she stands and examines all the trees surrounding the clearing, and a few outside the initial ring. 'None of these trees bear acorns.' She looks back at the pile of capped nuts, 'Squirrels and monkeys don't gather them like that, either.'  
  
She starts scanning the area intently, ground and trees, looking for anything out of place.  
  
There were an unusual amount of dead leaves on the ground, mostly near the pile. She looks up frowning in concentration and sees something dangling from a branch overhead. Climbing up she notices small gouges in the bark now that she is closer, some deep enough to ooze sap. 'Fresh,' she concludes.  
  
She reaches the branch and edges out to reach her target. It appears to be dark string or very fine rope, and it's wrapped and tied around the branch, not just draped as she had thought. She anchors her legs around the limb and leans out to untie it. 'It looks like string or cord, but...' She sits up to examine it, '...it feels cold and a bit stiff,' holding it up to the light coming through the leaves above. She peruses the ragged end where it had been cut, "Metal wires?" She touches the fray and pokes her finger on the fine wires, 'twisted together like rope!'  
  
She carefully tucks the strange length under her belt and swings down to the ground. Kirara comes over and Sango holds it out for her to sniff. "Who would make a rope out of wire?"  
  
The cat grimaces with whatever she smells there. Sango pats her on the head and puts the rope back under her belt, '...and why?'  
  
She climbs on Kirara's back to ride back down the small hill to her injured friend, worry growing for the fate of the littlest member of their group.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
- - - The Day Before - - -  
  
Shippo follows the odor, anticipating a quick snack, 'Yum...acorns!' Every few yards he would stop to test the air, changing direction as needed to stay with the scent.  
  
After a short while he tops a rise and comes to a clearing. Stopping at the edge just out of the direct sunlight, he looks around and sees a rather large pile of acorns lying under a tree across the clearing. His eyes grow big at the amount he could clearly see.  
  
"Wahoo!" He shouted and bounded over, "Plenty for now, and plenty for later!" He halts next to the pile that was almost as tall as he and reaches for a handful...  
  
Chaos! The leaves all around him rise up, enveloping his little body and lifting him off the ground. "EEEAAK!"  
  
Shippo struggles to escape, as the hard binding grows tighter, leaves falling with every motion exposing the net that had trapped him.  
  
'Net?!' He wraps his tiny hands around the strands and yell, "KITSUNE BI!!"  
  
Bluish flames burst forth incinerating the remaining leaves that were caught up with him but the net remains intact. The flames die and the net is as strong as before and unharmed.  
  
He begins to panic and renews his struggling. His blue bow is snagged from his head, caught in the mesh and falls like one of the leaves lying below him on the ground. He pulls and bites at the strands but makes no mark.  
  
A dark clad form drops from above and stands next to him where he dangles, a low chuckle and the man's deep voice startle him to attention, "Feisty little one, aren't you?"  
  
Shippo stills and peers through his tangled mop of hair at the man, and sees him reach toward him, his face hidden behind a mask, 'That's like...'  
  
The desperate Kitsune furtively tucks a hand inside his shirt and wraps it around a familiar wooden toy.  
  
Just as the man was about to touch the net, Shippo pokes his arm through the mesh and tosses the wooden top at him. The man's reflexes move him amazingly fast and he dodges it, the suddenly huge top pinning harmlessly away, wasted.  
  
"Now, now...we'll have none of that, my valuable little prize."  
  
Shippo twists around and watches the man pull out a small clay jar and unstopper it, a thick viscous smoke rising up to envelop him where he hangs helplessly.  
  
Shippo covers his nose and mouth with both hands, but begins to choke on the sickly-sweet vapor. His heart pounding wildly with fear and vision blurring, the man's chuckle follows him into darkness. His last coherent thought, 'Why is he dressed like Sango?'  
  
~*~*~  
  
Shippo slowly claws his way through the shadows, a long seeming climb. He hears creaking first, and odd chitterring noises nearby. He then notices an uneven swaying, jerking motion that enhances his dizziness. He moves his hand over the smooth surface he lay on. It felt hard and cold - like metal.  
  
The air is moving freely over him and the creaking keeps time with the rocking movement. Shippo opens his eyes and squints, trying to focus, 'Where...?'  
  
He blinks at the vertical bars that dominate his view, and pushes himself to a sitting position with difficulty. He braces himself against a feeling of nausea and breathes deeply until it passes. With his vision improving and the fresh air clearing his head, he begins to explore his surroundings.  
  
He was in a small cage, just high enough for him to stand and twice as wide, made with heavy metal bars. The top and bottom appear to be made of metal as well and a heavy lock dangles from the door.  
  
Night is falling, but there is still enough light to see that he was on a wagon and that he was not the only cargo. Other cages containing not animals but... His eyes open wide and he whispers, "...youkai."  
  
The cages were filled with different kinds of lesser demons, some noisily protesting, others lying in apathy or asleep; possibly drugged as he had been.  
  
The sides of the wagon are too high to see the passing countryside, and too high to see the driver, but he could hear the clop of hooves from the beast pulling it. 'No...beasts; that's the sound of eight feet, not four.'  
  
Still too unsteady, he crawls over to the door and grabs it, rattling it loudly disturbing the other creatures around him. "Hey!" He shakes the door again, "Let me go!" No response and the wagon continues to roll on.  
  
"Hey!!" Shippo yells loudly as he rattles the cage door incessantly, *Clang Clang Clang!* The noise incites the alert demons around him to complain, growing louder with his cries. "You better let me outta here!" *Clang Clang Clang* "You're gonna be sorry!" He listens...still no response except for the growing volume of agitation from the other cages.  
  
*Clang Clang* He tries to yell louder, "Who do you think you are? Hey!!" *Clang Clang Clang* "You don't think you can get away with this? Do you?" His rising ire urges him on, "You don't know who you're dealing with!" *Clang Clang* "You're gonna have more trouble than you've ever seen!!"  
  
He pauses...'nothing, dammit!' and takes a deep breath, "Are you listening out there?! Did you hear what I said?! ...pause... "I have friends you know! They're gonna come after you!" *Clang Clang* Angry tears start to fall and he screams, "They're probably gonna kill you and I won't stop them!!" ...pause... "Did you HEAR ME?!!"  
  
Suddenly a loud bang, like something solid thudding into the wooden side and the man's voice, "Quiet down back there!" Most of the squalling demons obey.  
  
Shippo grows angrier and rattles the door furiously, "OH YEAH?! You just wait you scummy piece of crap! When my friends find me, they'll MAKE you let me go!"  
  
He breathes heavily and listens...nothing.  
  
*Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang*  
  
"FINE THEN!! LET INUYASHA CUT YOU UP IN LITTLE PIECES, AND THEN GET SUCKED UP UNTIL THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO BURY – YOU BASTARD!!!"  
  
Shippo halts to catch his breath and notices that the creaking, that had been steady behind the noisy youkai, was gone...the wagon had stopped.  
  
Half hopeful and half dreading the owner of the deep voice and the approaching footsteps coming around to the back of the wagon, Shippo stands and steps back from the door until he is right up against the bars, and swallows hard.  
  
The sound of chains is followed by the tailgate dropping, letting a little more of the fading light into the back of the wagon, and silencing all the demons.  
  
The man wasn't wearing his mask this time and there was a cruel slant to his mouth as he glares at the now quiet Kitsune. He grabs hold of the bars of Shippo's cage and gives the whole thing a hard little shake, knocking the unsteady occupant forward onto his knees. Shippo stares fearfully through his unbound hair and begins to shake all over.  
  
The man bends close to the bars, squinting his eyes with malevolence, the scar across one cheek pulling one side of his mouth up and bares his teeth, "Did you say, InuYasha...the hanyou, InuYasha?"  
  
Shippo blinks, 'maybe he's heard of him and will let me go because he's afraid of him...' He clears his throat and rasps, "Umm...yeah..."  
  
The man begins to smile and Shippo shrinks back from the unholy glee that spreads across his twisted face, scaring him more.  
  
He lets go of the bars and starts to chuckle to himself, "Well, well, well. Hehe, it seems you're even more valuable than I thought." He braces one arm and strokes his chin in contemplation, a sinister figure in black and laughing in the deepening dark. "He's the one gathering the Shards of the Shikon no Tama, correct?"  
  
Shippo gulps, realizing his mistake and tries to remedy it, "No...umm...no, no...I lied. I don't know him...never met him..."  
  
The man violently shoves the cage back, slamming it into the ones behind it. Shippo is bounced off the bars and lands heavily on the bottom, stunned. "Do you take me for a fool?" The man scoffs at him, "You're just a filthy little demon trying to save your own skin."  
  
Shippo stares up at him, guilt rendering him speechless. 'No! No, it's not like that!' His mind screams in defiance but fear seals his voice.  
  
The man reaches out to give the lock a twist, testing it and satisfied with it's strength, "Now, we have a ways to go yet, and I'm tired and want to get paid. The night will be long enough without all your whining, so..." He bends down and lifts the tailgate up, holding it halfway closed and snarls, "I don't care how much your worth – If you don't keep quiet I will rip you apart!"  
  
With that, he slams the gate shut and latches it.  
  
Shippo listens in the darkness to the man's footsteps, feels the wagon tilt as he climbs back onto the front, and hears him call to the horses and get them moving. The Kitsune rests his head on his crossed arms where he lay in his small prison, and begins to sob quietly in despair. 'Oh, Kagome...I'm sorry...'  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Shippo is startled awake with the dropping of the tailgate, the bright torchlight making his puffy eyes hurt. He hears many human voices, but one stands out from the rest...His. Another rises above the chatter in excitement, "A real one? Are you sure Akunin?"  
  
The man's voice answers, "Just as I promised. A prize specimen for My Lord's collection." Akunin and a richly garbed man approach the open back of the wagon, two others more meanly dressed were following them and carrying lanterns. "See for yourself, Sakutaro-sama." He allows the important-seeming man to pass in front of him and peer into Shippo's cage, watching with satisfaction.  
  
Sakutaro waves one of the others to bring his lantern closer and Shippo scrambles to the back of his cage, feeling a growl creep up his throat and escape in a raspy hiss.  
  
The pompous man jumps back and looks at the dark clad man, "My word, you are a very gifted Taijiya, Akunin." He looks back at the cage, "To capture a live Kitsune...the Master will be very pleased." Sakutaro removes a bulging bag from his belt and tosses it to him. "The agreed upon amount."  
  
Akunin weighs it in his hand and ties it to his belt, bowing to him, "Thank you, Sakutaro-sama."  
  
Sakutaro glances at the other cages and comments, "These, I assume, are the replacements?"  
  
Akunin nods, "Hai, Sakutaro-sama. A large variety as usual."  
  
"Good, good...that is very good." Sakutaro clasps his hands behind his back and motions with his head at the wagon and speaks with command, "Get it unloaded, quickly."  
  
The two assistants wave over more servants that had been waiting for this summons by the doors of the large building half hidden in the shadows of the pre-dawn darkness. Four are carrying two long poles between them. They approach and slide the poles through the top of Shippo's cage, pull it forward and using the poles, lift the cage and begin carrying it towards the open doors.  
  
"Sakutaro-sama?"  
  
He turns to the Taijiya, "Yes?"  
  
Akunin bows to him, "May I respectfully request the smith to construct a new cage? The large size - but stronger than any before. Very strong. It needs to be ten fold stronger and reinforced, top and bottom. If all goes well, I will need it in 2 days."  
  
"Oh?" Sakutaro looks at him questioningly, "You have plans?"  
  
Shippo grabs the bars and sees Akunin stare right at him and smile as he answers, "Hai, Sakutaro-sama."  
  
Just before Shippo's cage enters the building, he hears this last.  
  
"I'm going hunting."  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
- - - Back to now - - -  
  
InuYasha sits up in a tree overlooking the Bone-eater's Well and stares fixedly at the dark opening, 'It's morning already...' Glancing around he sees that the early morning mist had completely disappeared from among the trees. 'Where is she?'  
  
He crosses his arms and leans against the trunk, swinging his leg impatiently while glaring at the Well, 'If she's not here soon...'  
  
"InuYasha!"  
  
He looks down at the Monk crossing the clearing to stand next to the Well, cupping his hands around his mouth and interrupting the birdsong. "InuYasha!"  
  
The Hanyou sighs and jumps down, startling him, "Inu – Oh!"  
  
InuYasha folds his hands into his sleeves and glares balefully at the Monk, "What is it, Miroku?"  
  
"I had a feeling you would be here."  
  
InuYasha rolls his eyes and sighs, "So?"  
  
"We have a problem...We believe that Shippo has been kidnapped."  
  
InuYasha's eyes had wandered to the well-mouth and they snap back to the Monk's face incredulously, "Nani?"  
  
The Monk takes a deep breath, "He disappeared 2 days ago, and we could really use your help, InuYasha. The clues are few and, with your keen senses, there may be something you might notice that we cannot."  
  
InuYasha frowns, 'Shippo...gone?' He pictures in his mind the annoying little Kitsune...teasing him...playing tricks...whining... InuYasha feels anger swelling at the thought of the orphaned fox-child in someone's clutches, hurt or dead, torn away from them...from Kagome. 'She's gonna cry...'  
  
He looks at Miroku, his eyes gone hard, "Show me."  
  
They turn toward the path back to Kaede's. InuYasha takes a few steps before grabbing the Monk's arm and stopping him. "Wait..."  
  
Miroku looks at the Hanyou whose eyes were aimed at the Well, "Kagome's back."  
  
They both watch a stuffed yellow backpack land heavily on the ground next to the Well.  
  
"You go ahead, Miroku." InuYasha starts walking back, "We'll meet you at Kaede-baba's."  
  
Miroku nods and follows the path to the village.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Kagome holds onto her friend's waist as they rid on the large Cat-Demon through the air, the wind blowing her hair and tangling it in the string of the bow slung across her back.  
  
"You should have stayed with Kaede-baba, Kagome," InuYasha yells at her as he follows with great leaping strides.  
  
She looks over her shoulder angrily and yells back, "Like hell I should!" Her voice drops and she says, "I may not be able to do much..."  
  
Sango looks at her in surprise, "Kagome-chan!"  
  
The girl's brown eyes look sad, "...but there is no way I could just sit at Kaede-obachan's and wait." Her vision begins to blur, "Poor Shippo...He's so little...He must be so scared..." She blinks and anger burns the tears away, "Who could to such a thing?"  
  
Sango feels the girl's grip tighten with her rising temper. "Kagome-chan, we'll find him," she promises.  
  
They share a determined look and Kagome nods in agreement.  
  
Sango faces forward and points, "There...that's where he was taken!" This was said loud enough for the following Hanyou to hear.  
  
Kirara lands in the clearing with InuYasha close behind, and the women dismount. The Cat walks over to the diminished pile of acorns, evidence of others enjoying the bounty.  
  
Sango follows and shakes her head, "I wish there were more here to find." She looks at Kagome, who has joined her, "I'm not sure if searching here will help after 2 days."  
  
She scans the now familiar glade, having come back yesterday to go over it again until night had sent her back to Kaede's with empty hands.  
  
Kirara makes several "whuffing" sounds and grimaces. InuYasha walks over, puts his hand on the huge Cat's furry back and nods, "Eh Kirara...I smell it." He starts quartering the area, senses open wide and fully aware of the invisible clues that were beyond human detection. "Feh!" He snorts with suppressed anger, 'I can smell Shippo's fear...'  
  
He looks at the girl watching him with total faith. 'There is no way I'm telling her that,' he thinks as other scents wash over him. Out loud he begins a running commentary to keep them occupied.  
  
"Several animals have been through here recently..." He walks to the pile of nuts, Sango and Kagome moving aside and paying close attention as he crouches over them and then bends over the scattered leaves nearby. "Yes...the same over-sweet smell is here too, but stronger than on that piece of rope, Sango."  
  
He steps up to the tree overshadowing the pile and examines the minute gouges in the bark, dried sap beading over the wounds. The smell is faint... "Metal – not claws made these marks."  
  
"Yes?" Sango moves closer to look again, always amazed at his accuracy.  
  
He looks up and leaps into the tree, testing each branch until... "This one, Sango?"  
  
She'd been watching his progress and nods, "Hai, InuYasha. That is the limb the chord was tied to."  
  
He looks down at her, "He hid his scent well; it's not on the acorns, not on the ground, not on the rope..." He smiles ferally, "But he was here for a long time, waiting..." He jumps down, landing next to her, "and left his stench all over up there."  
  
Kagome speaks up, "He?"  
  
His eyes narrow with satisfaction, "Hai, and I have his scent now." He picks up an acorn and twists it in his fingers then encloses it in his fist as if he would crush it. "A human man," he throws the nut, bouncing it off a distant tree. "Definitely," he spits out.  
  
Kagome's worry grows and Sango turns thoughtful. The Taijiya walks over to Kirara and hops up, looking back at her companions, "I'm going to search some more farther out-"She pauses then asks, "do you want me to take you back to Kaede-sama's, Kagome-chan?"  
  
Kagome shakes her head, "I couldn't, Sango-chan. I'll stay with InuYasha."  
  
Sango understands, "Then I'll meet you back there by nightfall." Kirara leaps into the air.  
  
InuYasha stares at the girl waving goodbye, his hands hidden in his sleeves. "You should go back to Kaede's, Kagome..."  
  
She turns on him, fire flashing in her dark brown eyes. "Don't you start! I'm staying with you, and that's that." She adjusts the strap holding her quiver over her shoulder and raises her bow in her hand, "I'm not completely helpless you know!"  
  
"Okay, okay..." He turns and prowls around the edge of the clearing, crouching, sniffing, and sometimes crawling with his nose almost touching the ground. "Damnit..." he mutters. "I should be able to get a direction now that I know his scent."  
  
Kagome watches intently, too worried to laugh, scanning the forest ringing them and praying silently, 'Please Shippo...be safe.'  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The densely forested area was a good place for hiding. Lying in wait for his prey, Akunin stretches his length along a broad branch with a clear sight of the red-clad figure making his way closer, followed by a girl in strange clothes that bare her legs and carrying a bow.  
  
Akunin strokes the long polished pipe in his hands with anticipation. He carefully removes a thin metal needle with a padded end from a special container and gently pushes it into one end of the wooden pipe.  
  
'Yes, a good place for hiding...' He raises the tube to his mouth and aims it at the silver-haired Hanyou, his dog-like ears betraying his heritage.  
  
'...And a good place for an ambush.'  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Kagome walks behind the erratically tracking hanyou, zigzagging here and there but slowly following the faint 2-day-old trail.  
  
InuYasha stands up, "Damnit!" He stretches to get the kinks out.  
  
Kagome asks him, "Nani?"  
  
He rotates a stiff shoulder and turns to look at her, "That Damn Bastard! What ever he's doing to hide his scent, he's frigging good at it." He sighs with frustration and shakes his head, "I've never seen anything like it!"  
  
Her frown of worry deepens, "Please keep trying InuYasha," she pleads.  
  
He looks up to reassure her, "I'm not giving up Kagome." He steps close and puts his hands on her shoulders, "We'll find that –"He stiffens and his grip tightens painfully, "SON OF A BITCH!"  
  
She grabs the front of his haori in reaction, "InuYasha?"  
  
He twists around out of her grasp, trying to reach backwards, clawing at his shoulder, "SHIT!!"  
  
Kagome sees something on his back and yells at the contorting Hanyou, "Hold still!" She drops her bow and rushes to him.  
  
He stops, bent over with his hands on his knees and gritting through his teeth, "It burns!"  
  
She locates the small object and easily plucks it free. She glares at the small needle, the tip red with his blood.  
  
He straightens with a wince and looks at it, then at her, "What is it?"  
  
"A dart," she looks up and around at the now sinister-seeming trees, grabs his arm and drags him against a tree, hoping she chose the right side. "Someone shot that at you!"  
  
He winces again and takes the needle from her to get a closer look at it. "This little thing?" He tosses it aside and laughs, "He's gonna have to do better than that."  
  
They look at each other before they both start scanning as far as they could see, watching for any movement.  
  
InuYasha inhales deeply and says, "It has to be Him. No one else could get this close without me smelling him."  
  
Kagome glances at her bow lying useless in the grass, afraid to expose themselves just to retrieve it. She whispers at him, "What do we do?"  
  
He looks at her scared face, and says to himself, 'I can't leave her, not knowing where he is...I've got to take him down...fast.' He glances at her bow then back at her, "We have to draw him out." He backs away from the sheltering tree and her eyes widen with realization. She puts out a hand, but he is out of reach and walking calmly to where her bow lies.  
  
He turns in a circle to watch all directions as he moves forward and yells, "Why don't' you come out? Coward!"  
  
His bare feet touch the wood of the bow. He sweeps it up in one smooth motion and tosses it back to Kagome, his eyes constantly searching...  
  
Kagome catches it and notches an arrow immediately, never taking her gaze off of the reckless Hanyou, using himself at bait, and sees him stumble.  
  
InuYasha shakes his head, beginning to feel a little dizzy. 'What the...?'  
  
"InuYasha?"  
  
He looks back at Kagome, her eyes wide and bow held firmly, and shakes his head again, blinking. Vertigo hits him and he drops to one knee, bracing himself with one hand on the ground.  
  
She calls him again and makes like she would come to him. He shakes it off and stands up again, putting up a hand to stop her, "No! Stay there!"  
  
He blinks furiously, the small wound on his back on fire, and grits his teeth, 'No! This can't be happening!'  
  
Kagome watches as he stumbles forward to grab a nearby tree, digging his claws into the bark to keep himself upright. 'Shit!' He forces his eyes to focus, trying to regain his balance. 'This is bad...'  
  
Another dart thudding into his neck knocks the unsteady Hanyou backwards, spinning him around before hitting the ground.  
  
"NO!!" Kagome runs to him, falls to her knees and drops the bow to snatch the new needle from his neck and throws it away. "InuYasha!!"  
  
His neck on fire, his breathing labored, and his world spinning...one thought remains. He rasps out, "Kagome...run..."  
  
He feels her hand touch his cheek, her voice muffled by the ringing in his ears before blackness overcomes him.  
  
Kagome watches in horror as he goes limp and screams, "NOOOO! INUYASHA!!!"  
  
She whips her head around in the direction the second dart had come from, grabs her discarded bow, and stands up with an arrow notched. She aims at the dense cluster of trees, at nothing in particular, but she knows that that is where he is...watching...waiting.  
  
"Come and face me, Damn You!" She stares hard, taking aim and lets fly her arrow. It blazes a path through the trees and burns an opening, exposing branches...but no hidden attacker.  
  
She quickly notches another arrow, and screams, "I'll find you sooner or later; if I have to burn this whole forest down!!"  
  
The second arrow rips through another section and she notches another arrow, beginning to glow as soon as she touches it.  
  
A small thud heralds the arrival of another dart...stuck in the wood of the bow...between her fingers. Her eyes widen. It was sheer luck that it missed her, it was that close.  
  
But now she has a direction and aims her next arrow back along the darts path, the needle acting like a telltale pointer.  
  
She sends it flying, pulsing with energy, and incinerates a whole section of trees. A dark figure leaps out of the way...barely. He tumbles to the ground and comes up running.  
  
She pulls another arrow, aims on the moving target and shoots.  
  
He tucks and rolls to dodge it, narrowly missed again, and dives behind a tree.  
  
She curses and yanks another arrow from her quiver, and slides it into place. Before she can shoot, she sees him duck out lightning fast and feels heat bloom in her chest. She gasps and steps back, shock causing her to drop the arrow. She fumbles for another, hoping for one more chance...  
  
A deep male voice calls out, "Give it up! You don't stand a chance." He chuckles, "I know I hit you."  
  
Kagome swallows, looks down and sees the dart sticking out in the middle of her chest, bobbing up and down with each rapid breath. She yanks it out, throws it in disgust, and notches her arrow and aims it. "I have you now, You Bastard!!"  
  
She lets fly, hits the tree he was hiding behind and it explodes. 'Did I get him?' Kagome lowers her bow, feeling the first wave of dizziness hit her and barely catches herself.  
  
"Where are you aiming at, Pretty?" A hand reaches around her and plucks the bow from her loosening grip.  
  
She gasps, spins about and lands on her backside. She looks up in disbelief at the sneering man standing over the unconscious InuYasha.  
  
He was dressed as a Demon Exterminator, the sneer on his face enhanced by the puckered scar on his cheek, her bow in one hand and the deadly Blowgun in the other.  
  
The tosses her bow aside and cocks his head in amusement at her, "You won't last as long as he did," his tone was conversational and confident as he lightly kicks the senseless Hanyou.  
  
Kagome gasps and puts up a supplicating hand, "Don't!" Her vision starts to blur and she feels like her head is spinning. "Please..."  
  
Her breathing becomes increasingly shallow and she can barely focus on his dark form, though she has no problem hearing his amused, "Go to sleep, my pretty bird."  
  
She feels herself fall over sideways, unable to prevent it...feels the grass against her cheek...then nothing.  
  
To be continued...  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
A/N: Akunin means villain or bad man. Excuse me while I go clean myself up...I feel dirty. 


	3. Desperation

A/N – Thanks to Ieva and Tangla() for their reviews, and most especially to Shortpoet for your enthusiasm. I'm honored...truly honored. Thanks to all of my friends and family who humor me and think I'm nuts (I'm not nuts, I'm obsessed...but that's another story.) I'm apologizing in advance for the content...I didn't do this, it was all Akunin's idea...I'm just narrating. -  
  
A few definitions -- Shinobi is another word for Ninja. Hime means princess or high-born lady of a particular house/family. Katana is a sword (duh!)  
  
Disclaimer – I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. They are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation that I hope is up to the quality of the real series.  
  
**Chapter 3: Desperation**  
  
The man Akunin raises the blowgun in his hand to admire the polished wood in the sunlight and smiles, "I need to thank that old potion-maker, he really knows his stuff."  
  
He is standing deep in the forest and he looks down at the young girl and the hanyou lying on the ground at his feet. "Where the likes of you belong," he sneers and kicks the red-clothed creature, "At my feet, you Abomination!"  
  
He slips the blowgun into its special sheath, squats down and grabs one of the dog-like ears that poke out from under the long silvery-white hair and uses it to lift the creature's head.  
  
"Look at you," he spits in disgust at the oblivious human-seeming face, "you're worse than a stinking youkai!" He releases the ear, allowing the head to hit the ground with a satisfying thud. "Your very existence sickens me," he stands up, "and there is nothing I'd like more than to paint this entire forest with your blood!" He raises his hands over his head and stares at them, picturing them bathed in red...  
  
He closes his eyes and drops his arms with a sigh then laughs at himself, "but that would only cheat me out of a hefty fee." He looks back down and glares at the unsuspecting hanyou. "I can wait...you'll get yours eventually," he kicks at him again, "Filth!!" He spits on the ground near the lolling head.  
  
He notices the sword in the hanyou's belt, "and who did you steal this from?" He bends over and removes it, drawing it from the sheath to examine it. He makes a sound of disgust at its chipped and rusty length, "too stupid to take care of it properly." He slams the sword back into the sheath and tucks it into his own belt next to his katana. "Might be worth a few coins once I clean it up."  
  
His gaze drifts over to the dark-haired girl with entirely too much leg showing, "I do have to admit, cur..." He steps over the hanyou's body to stand looking down at her, "You have good taste in women."  
  
He kneels, reaching out a hand to touch her pale cheek, to stroke the smooth line to her chin and then brushing the hair off of her forehead. "Yes," he smiles, "a very pretty bird."  
  
He suddenly frowns a little and turns his head to look at the still smoldering leaves and the blasted remains of the tree that he had hidden behind. He raises a brow and studies the long lashes and her innocent face, "No..." he corrects himself and lifts her to remove the quiver of arrows and tosses them aside, "More like a fierce lioness!"  
  
He jerks a thumb in the hanyou's direction, "And here I thought big-ears over there would be difficult," continuing to talk to her sleeping visage as if she were listening. He sighs, "Too bad really..." he pinches her chin to tip her face more toward him, "I like 'em spirited." He lets go of her chin and shakes his head, "But you've defiled yourself," his voice rises with his temper, "associating with the likes of that!"  
  
Something glinting catches his eye and his eyes are drawn to a small bottle dangling by a thin tie around the girl's neck. He reaches for it, "What...?" and snaps the string the better to examine it. Tiny shards of some crystalline material rattle inside and wink at him with an inner light.  
  
"Shikon Shards," he breathes in awe. "1...2...3...4! Four Shards!" He smiles, laughs and kisses the little bottle then tucks it away into a hidden pocket. "This is too easy!" He stands up and bows flamboyantly to the unconscious girl, "And I thank you for your assistance!"  
  
He straightens and puts his hands on his hips, "Now..." frowning down at them, "what to do with you..." He scratches his short hair and looks from the hanyou to the girl then back again. "I hadn't planned on two of you...Hmm..."  
  
He takes a deep breath, shrugs and kneels once more next to the girl, lifting her over his shoulder and standing with a grunt. Shifting Kagome more comfortably, Akunin walks over to the hanyou. He leans over, grabs a handful of the red material on InuYasha's shoulder and begins dragging the limp form.  
  
========  
  
Sango sighs tiredly as she slides off of Kirara's back in front of Kaede's home. The cat sits and Sango wraps her arms around the furry neck, resting her forehead on Kirara's head between the black-tipped ears. The cat rumbles and leans against her troubled mistress with her eyes closed.  
  
Miroku steps out of the hut and watches silently, waiting for the young woman to notice him. She had taken to wearing her Taijiya clothes all the time since the Kitsune's disappearance, but her warrior's façade back-lit by the setting sun couldn't hide her weariness...not from him.  
  
_'If only she would embrace me like so...'_ His involuntary sigh of longing startles her and she straightens, wiping her eyes and turning her embarrassed face away from the good-looking Monk's observation.  
  
She notices that the last bit of sun has dropped below the horizon, leaving the sky to the approach of nightfall. Already the boldest of stars were visible, twinkling merrily as if waiting for the rest of their brethren to come out of hiding. "Suns..." she says out loud.  
  
Miroku steps closer and asks, "What?"  
  
Sango points at a brilliant pinpoint and says again, "Suns."  
  
He moves closer, almost touching her but not quite and looks where she is pointing. "Suns?"  
  
"Hai, Houshi-sama - Suns." She stares at the emerging lights and explains, "Kagome-chan told me once that every star up there is a Sun, like our own, but so far away that it takes years just for their light to travel here and be seen."  
  
"Light traveling?" He looks again, trying to imagine such a distance. "Amazing." He looks at the back of her head and says again, "simply amazing..." not talking about the stars now. He blinks and asks, "Did you find...?"  
  
She shakes her head, still not looking at him.  
  
He crosses his arms and sighs, staring down at the ground, "It's so quiet around here...without..."  
  
"Hai, Houshi-sama."  
  
She finally turns to look at him, "Have Kagome-chan and InuYasha come back yet?"  
  
"No, not yet."  
  
Sango gazes back at the deepening evening sky and the shadowy forest beyond the fields. "They should...soon." Crickets begin their serenade and other night dwellers join in with each unique sound.  
  
She faces him again, features softened in the dimming light, "How is Kaede-sama?"  
  
He gives a low chuckle, "All the villagers are almost fighting over who will have the honor of taking care of her." His grin widens, "they finally get to return the help and kindness she has given them all these years." He watches a small smile replace the sadness on her face and is glad of it. "She's like a Hime with loyal subjects just waiting for a chance to pamper her!" He chuckles again, "She certainly didn't need me here."  
  
He reaches over to give Kirara a pat and slants a wicked look at her sideways, "I think they would chew her food for her if she'd let them."  
  
Sango giggles and she sees out of the corner of her eye his hand, so close to hers on Kirara's shoulder. She blushes and bites her lip, stifling her laughter, and thankful that the darkness will hide her red face from him.  
  
The last of the light has faded from the sky, bringing true dark and the end of another day. The stars only grow more brilliant with no other celestial competition.  
  
Sango stares up at the nightly parade and her thoughts turn to the regrets that we all contemplate in the dark hours; personal demons in the mind that we torment ourselves with, even the things that happen that are beyond our control.  
  
All mirth gone, she sighs softly and feels his hand cover hers. Her eyes widen and her heart does a rapid little dance. She covers the betraying flutter with her free hand but dares not look at him though she leaves her other hand under his.  
  
"Sango..."  
  
The pounding in her chest increases, "Hai, Houshi-sama?"  
  
"...Are you hungry?"  
  
One last skip and her heartbeat slows to normal and her shoulders slump a little, her breath coming out in a little puff, "Hai...Houshi-sama."  
  
"Come inside then, there's plenty." His hand leaves her with the memory of warmth as he turns for the doorway of the hut. "They've been bringing food not unlike at some of the Great Houses when I exorcise the Evil Spirits for them."  
  
This was said in a pious tone, and she spins on her heel to raise her eyebrows at his boyishly handsome face. She crosses her arms and says sternly, "Don't you mean when you lie and cheat them into thanking you just so you won't have to sleep outside?"  
  
He waves his hand at her words, "Unimportant details," and holds the flap open for her.  
  
She walks forward and stops in front of the unrepentant Monk and stares him right in the face, illuminated by the fire from inside, "Oh...Maybe I'll ask them the next time if they think that the details are so unimportant."  
  
His face looses its smugness and becomes uncertain, "You wouldn't...?"  
  
She gives a feminine snort and "harrumphs" past him and enters the hut with her nose in the air, secretly satisfied that she was able to tweak his conscience.  
  
"Sango!" He follows on her heels, "Just a minute!"  
  
====  
  
She continues to alternately ignore and prod the poor Monk as she eats. Miroku defends himself the best he can, putting his foot in his mouth again and again to the amusement of the old one-eyed woman who watches silently, refusing to be caught in the middle.  
  
The time passes and the argument dies down. Minutes turn into hours of uncomfortable silence as they wait.  
  
Miroku listens to the fire snap and watches the woman seated across from him. She has been silent and staring at the door for too long...  
  
He's startled when she suddenly jumps up and starts rummaging in Kagome's backpack that had been sitting in the corner all day.  
  
Kaede is unsurprised and states the obvious, "You're going to look for them."  
  
Miroku rises and grabs his staff that was leaning against the wall, "It will be difficult in the dark..."  
  
Sango pulls the flashlight from the bag and stands, holding the silver cylinder for them to see, "Not with this!"  
  
She slings her giant Boomerang across her back and heads for the doorway, "Kirara!"  
  
The cat pricks her ears and leaps to run past her mistress and out the door.  
  
Miroku looks down at Kaede, comfortably ensconced on her futon with her bum foot elevated on its own cushion, "Will you be alright, Kaede-sama?"  
  
She shoos him toward the door, "Go! Before she leaves without you!"  
  
He nods and dashes out.  
  
====  
  
The Glade in the forest if easy to find; Kirara and Sango had been here many times. The half-moon has risen and it's pale light aided their task. Truth be told, even though the small clearing took on an ethereal beauty in the moonlight, the Taijiya was beginning to hate the sight of it.  
  
They land in the center of the clearing and the man and woman dismount. Sango works the control on the flashlight and beams its light around for a quick look. "Nothing new, Houshi-sama. All is as it was when I left them here this morning.  
  
She pats the cat-youkai on the back and sends her forward, "find their trail, Kirara." The watch as the twin-tailed feline casts about for the scent of their missing companions.  
  
Sango turns off the light, remembering Kagome telling her of its limited power and that it must be conserved. Something called "bat-er-eez". She grips her friend's belonging with both hands like a talisman, _'Kagome- chan...where are you?'  
_  
Miroku is right behind her as they follow Kirara through the forest with her nose to the ground. Neither was willing to break the silence, much quieter here than near the village with the lack of crickets that inhabit cultivated ground and the occasional cry of some predator's prey.  
  
Shadows are much deeper here, the trees blocking the moon and stars, and Sango reluctantly uses the flashlight, hoping it has enough energy for if they need it later.  
  
Though the invisible trail goes first this way and that, it continues in a northerly direction with Kirara often stopping to test minute changes, and then moving on. Suddenly she stops with all four feet planted firmly, head up, tails twitching and eyes widely dilated to take advantage of every bit of light.  
  
"What is it?" Sango flicks the light off and pulls her sword. She feels the Monk's robes brush her calf as he moves in closer.  
  
Kirara twitches and with a deep growl, leaps forward too fast for their eyes to follow in the dark. They stand back to back and wait for a response from their four-footed friend, straining to see anything in the heavy blackness around them.  
  
"Merroow," comes from the direction that Kirara had taken and Sango relaxes, recognizing the tone of the cry from long hours of practicing just such strategies. She flips the switch for the light and motions for Miroku to follow her, though she does not re-sheathe her Katana.  
  
The cat-youkai blinks her large eyes as the beam of light finds her, sitting to let them know that there is no immediate danger. She is holding something in her mouth.  
  
Sango gasps, "Kagome's bow!" She puts away the sword and handing the flashlight to Miroku, she rushes to take the bow from the gleaming fangs and runs her hands over it. Finding a small metal needle imbedded in the handgrip she tugs it free and examines the discolored tip.  
  
He watches with curiosity as she sniffs the odd looking object with the padded end. "What is that?"  
  
She frowns, "It's a weapon, Houshi-sama. I've not seen one before but I have heard of them. My father..." she pauses, takes a deep breath and continues. "My Father would tell us many tales, and these darts," she holds it up for him to see the tip better, "are the tools of a Shinobi, or assassin." She bites her lip and blinks back tears, "They are most often envenomed. My Father considered them dishonorable, he said we should meet the youkai on e-e-ven ground." Her broken words betray her emotion and she looks tearfully at the Monk.  
  
He looks away to control his own feelings and moves the light around on the ground, one word echoing in his head, _'...envenomed...'_ He notices the quiver a few feet away with arrows spilled across the grass and closes his eyes. The thought of something happening to the happy young girl that had befriended him...and believed in him, was causing him real pain.  
  
The flashlight is yanked out of his hand and his eyes open to see the distraught Sango go running around in the dark, casting the light crazily over the trees and yelling, "Kagome-chan!" He watches with a weary frown and listens to the panic in her voice, unable to think of anything to say that would comfort her...not when he would like to join in.  
  
He sighs and walks over to the discarded quiver and stoops to gather the arrows, placing them one by one back inside.  
  
"Houshi-sama!"  
  
He looks over his shoulder at her call, and follows her transfixed gaze to where the light falls on the blasted remains of a tree, the jagged fragments shockingly highlighted.  
  
They both approach the debris-covered ground and the blackened and splintered trunk standing vigil over its decimated remains. Miroku spies and picks up what is left of an arrow, the head missing and fletching half gone, but unmistakably identical to the ones in the quiver.  
  
Sango moves the light once more to better effect this time and they see several singed-looking gaps in the foliage of the nearby trees. She steps closer to him and puts her free hand on his sleeve. "Houshi-sama..."  
  
He looks up from staring at the broken arrow in his hand and sees the same degree of emotion in her eyes.  
  
"Do you think it was Naraku?" she asks.  
  
He looks back at the mess at their feet and shakes his head, "Who can say," and tosses the shaft down. "We still don't know much," he spins on his heel and strides back to the bow and quiver where they had been dropped, "but I do not believe it a coincidence." She follows and watches him retrieve and shoulder them. "That first Shippo is taken, and now..." He points to the ground for her to place the light's beam there, and then carefully picks up the tiny dart lying in the grass, wrapping it in a small cloth he pulls from a pocket.  
  
He looks purposefully at her, seeing determination replace the tears on her face in the dim sidelight. "Kagome and InuYasha must also have fallen to the same villain." He picks up his staff and waits expectantly.  
  
Sango firms her lips and nods at him. Taking a bracing breath, she calls Kirara over to begin again her tracking.  
  
The Cat, having sat silently the whole time to await direction, twitched her ears, stood and turned to follow the stronger scent of the Hanyou. Though the scent was now overlaid with the smell of his and the girl's blood, she was unable to comfort her mistress that there was no stench of death. Kirara stopped to look back at the two following behind her, sneezed and went back to leading the way.  
  
====  
  
The night continues on, the moon passing overhead though it was often hidden by the dense forest's canopy. At these times they would use the flashlight to keep going until the moon was visible once more.  
  
They were about to cross a small stream when Sango stops, flicks on the light and begins scanning the soft dirt bank. "Ah..." she frowns, shakes her head and looks to the left and right of the marks impressed in the soil. "One..." She crouches to better examine the tracks left behind and answer some questions that had been spinning in her mind.  
  
Miroku squats next to her and tries to understand what she is looking for. "One what?"  
  
She points to the deeply imprinted shape in the mud that even to an inexperienced eye, belonged to a human foot. "One person – either very heavy..." She looks at him, her eyes reflecting the moonlight off the water, "...or carrying something heavy. And here," she points a little to the side of the deep print to shallower marks, "this here is something being dragged."  
  
He puts out a hand to touch the shallow grooves in the mud, "Dragged?"  
  
She stands up, gives the surrounding area another glance and turns off the light. He stands next to her and she explains, trying her best to be professional and keep her emotions under control. Her lapse earlier would not be repeated. "My guess would be that we are dealing with one ruthless person." She looks at him, "We didn't find any..." she swallows a rising lump, "...any bodies, and they obviously put up a fight. If they were...dead...what would be the purpose of taking them."  
  
Miroku stares at her, "You're saying they are alive?"  
  
She nods at him, "I believe so. There is no reason to take them unless they are alive." She looks down at the muddy bank, "But there is only one walking, and to carry them so far...he must be very strong..." She shakes her head in befuddlement.  
  
He frowns at her conclusion and thinks aloud, "He must be carrying Kagome- sama as she is the lighter of the two..."  
  
She nods again and looks at the faint marks in the faint moonlight, "and he's dragging InuYasha." She crosses her arms and heaves a sigh, watching Kirara take a drink from the stream. "But still, to carry them so far...to what purpose...and where?"  
  
Miroku switches his staff from one hand to the other, looking a little odd with the bow and Arrows slug across his back. "Those are questions that will only be answered once we find them."  
  
She drops her arms and straightens her shoulders, giving him a determined nod, "Hai, Houshi-sama." She turns and, stepping lightly and using a few exposed stones, she crosses the stream that the huge cat easily leaps.  
  
Her lithe movements capture his attention before he follows this nymph-like warrior back to the hunt.

=======  
  
The moon sets, and still they follow the enigmatic Kirara. The flashlight eventually gives out and they must trust the Cat's senses even more. She allows the night-blind humans to hang onto each of her tails, slowing her progress through the dark forest.  
  
Kirara can hear them behind her, their footsteps and breathing loud in her sensitive ears. The woman has been pulling on her tail this last half-hour, more so than the Monk, and has begun to stumble...to stubborn to give up.  
  
Sango blinks her burning eyes, straining to see anything in the blackness, _'I might as well have my eyes closed...'_ Her footing is unsteady and her breath coming in rapid puffs but she keeps walking...stumbling...  
  
She hits the ground hard with a grunt, not remembering falling. She lies there, stunned.  
  
Kirara stopped the second her mistress had dropped her tail. She turns around to sniff her nose in her beloved Sango's hair.  
  
The Monk, still hanging onto the Cat's tail, is unsure what had happened and why they have stopped. "Kirara...?"  
  
The cat-youkai, the only one of the three who could see at all, bends around to pull on his sleeve with her teeth and leads him to Sango, still lying on the ground. She pulls down on the sleeve until he is kneeling and directs his hand to the woman's back.  
  
"Sango!"  
  
Done with her task, the Cat sits on her haunches and begins licking her paws, 'nasty mud...'  
  
Miroku is surprised when his hand touches what he realizes is the Taijiya lying on the ground. "Sango! Are you alright?"  
  
She lifts her head and spits dirt out of her mouth, "Hai..." She sighs, crosses her arms in front of her and drops her forehead on them, "Just..." she pants out, "...give me a few...minutes...Houshi-sama."  
  
He sits back on his heels in relief and starts to think._ 'She's been on the go since Shippo disappeared, and we've been walking most of the night...'_ He frowns and berates himself for not seeing how exhausted she must be. He had been with Kaede-sama all day while she was searching...  
  
He bows his head in shame, "I'm sorry Sango."  
  
She lifts her head and turns in the direction of his voice, "Eh?"  
  
"Hai, for allowing you to so exhaust yourself," he said contritely.  
  
Sango raises an unseen eyebrow dangerously and repeats, "...Allow?"  
  
He continues heedless of her tone, "We must stop to rest. We cannot see, and you are too tired to continue."  
  
She pushes herself upright with effort, "Houshi-sama - "  
  
He cuts her off, "Besides, we're in no condition to run into anything like this. Wandering in the dark is dangerous and we cannot expect Kirara to protect us from things we would normally avoid." He sighs and she stays silent, taking in his words.  
  
She slumps and agrees, "Hai, it's foolhardy to continue." Sango feels the large warm body of Kirara lay down behind her and she removes her Hiraikotsu to set it down to the side. She reaches out a hand and searches for the Monk, grabs his arm and tugs until he moves closer. "Sango?"  
  
"We'll rest until morning," she says, still tugging till he is sitting next to her by the Cat. She lets go and leans against the soft fur with a sigh, feeling Kirara's rumble of contentment through her back.  
  
The Cat curls her head around to touch her nose on Sango's leg. Her mistress lays a grateful hand on the large feline's head. The purring kicks up a notch.  
  
Sango leans her head back, looks up and sees a few stars through gaps in the leaves, bright enough to be seen but not bright enough to light the shadows. Her vision blurs and she closes her eyes.  
  
Miroku sits there unsure, listening to the low rumble from the Cat and the soft even breaths from Sango. His hand finds Kirara's warm body in the dark and he tentatively scoots around to lean back against her. He waits for a protest and gets no reaction, so he removes the bow and quiver and relaxes with a sigh, his staff held upright against his shoulder under his crossed arms.  
  
He's just about to drift off when something comes to rest on his right shoulder. His eyes pop open. When he hears a soft sigh, he realizes it is Sango's head and he smiles. Carefully shifting his arm over her head, he lays it across her shoulders and pulls her closer. She easily turns toward him and leans on him bonelessly.  
  
He rests his cheek on her hair, smells her unique fragrance and heaves a happy sigh. Still smiling he falls asleep with the gently purring Cat guarding them, her eyes open and piercing the dark...  
  
- - - Earlier - - -  
  
The pounding in her head is persistent, and the constant jerking sway of whatever she's lying on isn't helping the nausea either. _'If Souta is shaking the bed, I'm gonna...'_ The loud creaking ends that thought, nagging at her to open her eyes and see what it is.  
  
_'I don't want to...too tired...ten more minutes Mama...'_ The sound is not her alarm clock, and she frowns, _'what is it?'  
_  
Curiosity winning over sleep, Kagome lifts her heavy lids and tries to focus on...something...red... She blinks rapidly and her vision clears enough to see in the dim light her Hanyou lying next to her, his eyes closed and head lolling with every jerk. She tries to move and finds her hands tied behind her back and her ankles bound. She pulls at her bonds but there is no give in them. _'Damnit!'  
_  
Anger burning the fog out of her head she looks around more alertly. There is not much to see in the shadowy space between the wooden sides of... _'Must be a wagon, boats don't---'_ A particularly hard jolt causes her to grunt,_ '- -jerk this much.'_ She looks back at InuYasha and notices the heavy chains wrapped around him from neck to knee. She whispers, "InuYasha?" There is no response so she tries again...and receives not a flicker.  
  
Kagome listens to the clopping of horses' hooves and is determined to get them away from that wacko._ 'If I can...'_ She begins wriggling closer to the unconscious Hanyou and discovers that the muscles of her abdomen are sore when she moves. Picking up a few painful splinters, she reaches InuYasha. Pushing her torso up onto his, she puts her ear on his chest and gives a sigh of relief at the strong beat of his heart. Kagome uses her body to nudge him and softly calls his name again. Still...nothing.  
  
It is then, while she is staring at his face hoping for a response, that she notices two more of the darts sticking in the side of his neck._ '...That dirty...rotten...'_ She grits her teeth against her rising anger and inches herself farther onto his chest, trying to get far enough to reach them with the only thing she could use to remove them with...her mouth.  
  
Laying half across him she manages to pull them one at a time and spit them angrily away, _'Damn things!'_ She relaxes against him with her forehead resting on his cheek, a little out of breath. One of the chains is digging into her hip and she moves a tiny bit. Raising her head, she looks at his sleeping face and says softly, "What are we going to do?"  
  
After a few more minutes of shaking him and calling to him, she gives up and slides off onto the wooden floor of the wagon. The girl firms her lips and rolls on her back, _'I've seen this in movies, let's see if it works.'_ Raising her legs up till her feet up in the air and bending at the waist until they touch the floor behind her head, she pushes and strains trying force her bound hands below her bottom, hopefully to slide them up the back of her legs.  
  
Bent almost in half is not a very comfortable position, nor is it very attractive. But after minutes of panting effort and staring up at the evening sky between her thighs, her hands edge past their hurdle and are free to slide along the back of her legs...and get stuck behind her knees. She lies there trying to catch her breath for a few more minutes before unbending her knees and sliding her bound hands the rest of the way over her calves and past her feet, in front of her and of more use.  
  
She smiles in triumph and lifts her hands up to examine the binding. It is a simple coarse rope but the knot is on the side facing away from her and too hard to reach with her teeth. She finally gives up trying to undo the knot and sits up much easier with her hands to help.  
  
The wagon gives a great lurch and, by the way it is tipping this way and that, the ground must not be as well traveled and beaten down. The wagon soon comes to a stop and Kagome listens silently, holding her breath, as the man with the deep voice calls out to someone, "Hey! You there, fetch some water for my horses."  
  
An older woman's voice answers, "Fetch it yourself! Have ye no respect for your elders?"  
  
Kagome's eyes open wide. She looks over at InuYasha, so unnaturally helpless, and stokes her anger at this man's crudity and callousness. She reaches for one of the darts lying on the floor, takes a deep breath and yells as loudly as she can, "HELP ME! PLEASE! I'M BEING KIDNAPPED!" She proceeds to kick her bound feet at the closest wooden side, shaking the whole wagon, and continues to scream, "SOMEBODY - PLEASE HELP ME!"  
  
Akunin whips his head toward the noisy racket coming from the back of the wagon, "What the...?!"  
  
The old woman peers up at this rude man and brandishes her walking stick at him, "What's this? What are ye up to?" She squints at him with suspicion, "Who've ye got in there?"  
  
The man turns back to glare at the old woman maliciously and she steps back in fear, "Mind your own business, Hag!"  
  
She cries out, "Begone! Leave here, I want none of your trouble!"  
  
He raises his hand as if to strike her. She cries out and backs away, stumbling for her home beyond the well in the yard. The thumping and screaming is still coming from the wagon; he curses and strides toward the back of the vehicle.  
  
Kagome takes another deep breath for another scream and hears footsteps approaching. She gives the side one last kick and sits up, carefully hiding the dart in her hands.  
  
Chains rattle and the tailgate drops. He's standing there, face black with anger and she feels her heart skip fearfully. He glares at her, glances at the still Hanyou, then reaches like a striking snake for the rope binding her hands. She gasps as he drags her out and throws her to the ground.  
  
He watches her try to sit up and snarls at her, "Think you're smart, little bird?"  
  
She turns her head and shoots him a hate-filled look, eyes blazing at the nickname, "I'm not a little bird! You rotten -"  
  
Lightning quick, he grabs the front of her school shirt and yanks her upright, tearing the green collar with his grip. He brings her face close to his as he hisses, "and you're not smart either-" He pauses and looks down at the pinprick, sees the dart in her hands poking his stomach and looks back into her eyes.  
  
She gives a little smile and says smugly, "Who's not smart?"  
  
He pushes her away and backhands her hard, sending her flying back to roll in the dirt. "Little Bitch!" he yanks the dart out and tosses is, giving a little laugh at her stunned expression. He walks over and yanks her up again. A bruise is already forming on her cheek and her eyes are dazed. He shakes her till she focuses on his face.  
  
He sneers at her, "Do you think I wouldn't carry an antidote for such a powerful potion as is on those darts." Satisfaction fills him as her eyes widen at this taunt, and he backhands her again letting her fall. Standing over her limp form, he rubs at the burning spot on his stomach and laughs, "...Lioness."  
  
=======  
  
A/N – This is as hard for me to write this as it is for you to read. So please don't hate me. (Jeez...I need another bath)


	4. Awakenings

A/N – After a short bout of writer's-block, here it is.  
  
Chapter 4: Awakenings  
  
A loud thud echoes through the darkness in her mind, _'...?...'_ Indistinct voices ripple across her floating consciousness and draws her up...up... Her lashes lift – torchlight flickering bright and shadows moving chaotically – she closes out the dizzying madness, letting the sounds wash over her...not touching her.  
  
"Akunin!" Came a light male voice, "Your back early."  
  
A deep voice, "Hai Sakutaro-sama, I was most fortunate. Come and see."  
  
The amusement in that voice causes her to flinch away, _'...No...'_ More light against her eyelids, seen from within as a red glow. She keeps them tightly closed.  
  
"But...What is this?"  
  
"This," a dramatic pause, "Is a Hanyou!"  
  
A gasp, "Hanyou?" The higher voice continues, "You mean...?"  
  
"Yes. Half demon and half human," a hard edge enters the deep voice, "A true Freak." The deep voice becomes oily smooth, "And one, I'm sure, that will bring My Lord much entertainment."  
  
A small note of suspicion s the higher voice, "How much?"  
  
A short pause, then the deep voice, "Three times the amount."  
  
"Three? I don't know...I would have to receive permission for such a sum."  
  
The deep voice becomes placating, "I quite understand, Sakutaro-sama. I would be content to wait for payment until you see his performance and realize his worth."  
  
"Very well Akunin, but you better be right about this. My Lord tolerates failure badly."  
  
"I promise you, you will not be disappointed. Has the smith finished the cage as I requested?"  
  
"Yes, yes...he finished just this evening." Sakutaro sounded impatient, "You must know, it was quite a costly task. Iron is not cheap."  
  
"I will reimburse you if My Lord is not satisfied."  
  
Sakutaro makes an agreeing noise and then, "What about her? What is she?"  
  
Akunin answers, "She...is mine."  
  
_'No...no...no...no!'_ The darkness welcomes her back into its warm embrace.

-------------------------------------------------------  
  
The sun makes its appearance and the birds greet the morning among the treetops, gently disturbing the sleep of those below.  
  
Sango sighs and burrows into the warmth she's leaning against, "Mmm..." She reaches up to pull the material hanging over her shoulder a little closer and sighs again...frowns, _'...huh?'_ She cracks an eye open and looks at the black cloth in her hand – turns her head and sees purple – then up to Miroku's sleeping face, so close to her own.  
  
Her eyes open wide and, tossing his arm off her shoulders, she jerks away feeling her face turn red. She hears him yawn and keeps her face turned away, hands covering her burning cheeks, 'How...? Why...?' She looks everywhere but at him. 'Did I...?'  
  
"Ah, Sango." He yawns again, "Good Morning."  
  
She hears him stand up and stretch and watches Kirara get up too with a groan. The cat pulls a huge feline stretch; claws spread and tearing up the dirt, mouth wide displaying an impressively lethal set of fangs.  
  
Sango trails a hand along the cat's side as she prowls by her, then clasps her hands in her lap and looks down at them to hide her embarrassment as the Monk crosses in front of her. The bow and quiver of arrows capture her attention at the edge of her vision, reminding her of what she should be thinking about, and she sits up straighter, her blush fading.  
  
The Taijiya stands, brushing the dirt off and reaching for her giant boomerang to sling it across her back. Bending over and picking up the bow and arrows she then holds them out to Miroku, "Houshi-sama," meeting his gaze unflinchingly.  
  
He takes them from her and looks up at the light trickling through the leaves and nods at her, "Time to go."  
  
Sango calls Kirara, signaling to the Cat-Youkai that they were ready to resume the trek.  
  
Kirara twitches her tails and dips her head to follow the scent-trail on through the forest.  
  
After little over an hour of leaf covered roots trying to trip them and scrambling over a rather large fallen tree, they step out of the trees at the edge of a wide rolling plain of grass.  
  
Sango stops and stares at the blindingly bright open space in disbelief. She turns that look on the Monk, who only shrugs at her and passes her to follow the tracking Kirara. She stares at his retreating back, wanting to be mad. Then rolls her eyes, sighs out her frustration and hurries to catch up.  
  
The trail through the tall grass is much easier to follow, the broken plant- stalks creating a visible path and they decide to try and follow it from the air. From above, the trail snakes along, shadowed by the angle of the early morning sun, and they make much better time.  
  
It isn't long though before the grass ends and they are back on foot.  
  
Sango wipes her forehead on her sleeve, 'Who is this Bastard?' she wonders and keeps walking. Kirara stops and turns her head to look back at her human companions, "Merreow!"  
  
Sango rushes past the Monk and stands by the Cat-Youkai to examine deep ruts in the soft dirt under a lone tree surrounded by tall brush. The hoof prints between the ruts are also well defined and she tells him, "Wagon tracks." She looks at Kirara and asks, "Does the trail end here?"  
  
Kirara crosses the old trail and the whole area around the wheel marks then looks at her mistress and sneezes.  
  
The Taijiya frowns, looking down at the ruts and Miroku asks her, "What's wrong?"  
  
She sighs and explains, "Wagons don't leave much of a scent trail, they are always in the dirt so they smell like dirt. Horses aren't much better. If they get to a road where the visible traces disappear, any scent they might leave will be confused by all the scents left by other travelers of that road." She shades her eyes and looks up, _'not quite mid-day.'  
_  
Sango drops her hand and takes a deep breath, "Let's go, Houshi-sama." She trots off in the lead this time with her eyes trained on the ground, listening to the jingle of the Monk's staff coming from behind.  
  
Off in the distance she notices a line of trees ahead of them, and when they get close enough she can see the packed dirt of the road they border. She slows to a walk, watching the wheel tracks for any deviation and calls back over her shoulder, "I'm afraid he took that road up ahead."  
  
Miroku comes even with her, "Then let us hope he turns before reaching it."  
  
She looks at him and nods, "At least then we'll still have a direction."  
  
The tracks head straight for the road but then angle to the right before disappearing at the edge of the hard packed earth. The two humans climb on Kirara's back and follow the road from above.  
  
An hour of this, Sango sees a house off the side of the road with a well in the yard, _'Might be a good spot for a rest.'_ Her stomach growls and she covers it with a hand, glad that the rushing air was too loud for it to be heard.  
  
She looks over her shoulder and points to the house. He nods and she directs Kirara to turn back a little ways before landing. Miroku slides off and asks, "Why did we land so far away?"  
  
Sango opens her arms and Kirara, amid swirling flames, shrinks down to her small form and leaps into her mistress' arms, "So we don't alarm anyone inside."  
  
Kirara gives a tiny "mew" and curls up to rest, cradled lovingly.  
  
"Besides," she continues, "they live close to the road. They may have seen something."  
  
He nods in agreement and gets a surprised look on his face at the loud growling coming form his stomach.  
  
Sango giggles and turns to walk down the road, "and maybe we can ask for something to eat."  
  
He can see by her shoulders shaking that she was still laughing at him, he sighs in dejection and follows...admiring her lovely backside. His hand twitches, 'No...better not,' he tells himself. The enticing view worth the humiliation, 'Maybe later.'  
  
They approach the small house and Miroku knocks on the door, "Hello, is anyone here?"  
  
An elderly woman's voice calls from the inside, "What do ye want?"  
  
He puts on his most pleasant tone, "I am a traveling Monk. My companion and I are weary and would like to ask if we may quench out thirst at your well and perhaps rest for a bit in your pleasant company. We could share news and I could bless your fine home." He glances at the splintered weathering of the wood and shrugs.  
  
The door cracks open and an eye peeks out to look at his Monk's robes. "Oh, Houshi-sama! Thank goodness," the door opens and a bent old woman leaning heavily on a walking stick steps out, smiling up at the charming Monk. "I was afraid that –"she looks at Sango, gives a horrendous screech and raises her stick, waiving it at the confused young woman. "Leave me be!"  
  
Miroku moves quickly between the crazed old woman and Sango and tries to grab the jerking stick, "Madame! Please!" He dodges a swing and snatches it out of her arthritic grasp. "We mean you no harm!"  
  
The old woman leans back against the doorframe, wheezing and her eyes open wide with fright, and screeches, "Liars! He's come back to kill me!"  
  
Sango peeks around Miroku at the poor old thing and asks, "Who's come back, Oba-san?"  
  
The old woman stops her caterwauling and peers back at her, "You're a woman!"  
  
Sango steps out from behind Miroku and stares at the old woman after sharing a shrug with the Monk, "Hai, Oba-san. My name is Sango."  
  
The old woman nods, still staring hard at her from head to toe and shaking her head, "Forgive old Noa, my eyes aren't what they used to be." She blinks and squints, pointing at Kirara still cradled in Sango's arms, "What be that? A babe?"  
  
Sango's face turns bright red much to the amusement of the Monk. She shoots him a look, daring him to laugh, and holds out the cute kitty, "This is Kirara – my...cat."  
  
Noa is almost nose to nose with Kirara and she smiles, "Oh my!" She reaches up with a gnarled hand to pet the sleek head, "How precious."  
  
"Oba-san," Sango watches Noa admire the small cat and asks casually, "You never said; who is it your afraid will come back?"  
  
"A very nasty man. Come here yesterday and threatens old Noa, so I hid inside." She looks up at Sango and shakes a finger at her, "You be careful young woman! He's up to no good. You may be next." She pats Miroku's arm, "Mind your man, here! He'll protect you."  
  
Sango blushes again and chokes back whatever she wanted to say and simply nods at the old woman, humoring her.  
  
Miroku drapes an arm across the flustered Taijiya's shoulders, pulling her closer and smiling at Noa. "I will most certainly protect 'my woman'," he declares, ignoring the heated glance from the woman in question. He drops his arm and bends down to the stooped old woman to hand her stick back and ask, "It would be helpful if you could describe this villain to us, so that we may be better prepared if we come across him."  
  
"Ahh..." She rolls her rheumy eyes and nods, "Ugly man...scar on his cheek...I could see that clearly with the sun right on his face." She shudders, "Old Noa will have nightmares."  
  
Sango leans forward, "But Oba-san, why did you think I was him?"  
  
The old woman points at Sango's Taijiya clothing, "My dear...you're dressed just like him."  
  
Sango straightens with shock on her face, "Nani?" Kirara gives out a protest of being squeezed to hard and jumps down.  
  
Miroku lays a hand on Sango's arm, but she is staring at the old woman, her empty arms moving to hug her self around the middle, "Oba-san, you said he had a scar...?"  
  
"Hai, a horrible wicked scar across here," she drags a withered finger down her left cheek to her upper lip, "it pulled his mouth up." She shakes her head, "Terribly ugly man, inside and out. Nasty business...stealing young women." She brandishes her cane, "If my son's had been here..." Her shoulders slump, "but they're long gone and old Noa is all alone."  
  
She looks up at the nice young couple still standing outside, "Oh my, where are my manners. Come in and rest, eat something..." She smiles up at them and turns to her door, "I'll be glad of the company."  
  
The Monk bows to her, "We would be most grateful."  
  
The old woman enters, leaving the door open for them.  
  
Miroku turns back to Sango, who still looks stunned with her glazed eyes and pale face. Kirara is rubbing on her ankles but she doesn't notice. 'She almost looks afraid.'  
  
He puts a hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze, "Sango?"  
  
She focuses on his face, something unfathomable in her eyes, "No...not him," she whispers.  
  
She grabs her other shoulder and turns her toward him, the look on her face beginning to worry him, "Who, Sango?"  
  
Hatred suddenly blazes in her eyes and she grits her teeth and spits out, "Akunin!" 

----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
The smell of fear was acrid to his sensitive nose, and combined with the pounding in his head, it made him want to retch. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and waited for his head to stop spinning, "Feh!"  
  
His eyes open but could only see his own silvery-white hair hanging down, forming a curtain around his face. His ears twitch at the sound of someone approaching and he forces his head up to look in the direction of the footsteps. Heavy metal bars, horizontal and vertical, fill his view and his heart begins to race, _'What the...?!'  
_  
He whips his head around to see that they completely surround him with a solid metal door on one side. Something like panic speeds his heartbeat even more.  
  
"I knew you would be waking up about now," the voice was deeply male and very smug.  
  
InuYasha spins on his knees to face the man with the scar smiling at him from outside the cage just out of reach. He leaps for the bars to try anyway, his arm thrust through a gap and claws slashing the air in front of the man. But he can't reach him and the Bastard just keeps smiling confidently.  
  
The frustrated Hanyou grabs the bars and pulls hard on them in vain, then snarls at the man, "Demme! Who are you?!"  
  
The twisted smile on the man's face broadens, "My name is Akunin." He takes a few steps to one side to admire the workmanship of the cage, the blazing golden eyes never leaving him, "And you are InuYasha, correct?"  
  
The Hanyou's eyes narrow and he steps back, folding his clawed hands inside his wide sleeves, trying to calm himself enough to think.  
  
Akunin smirks and continues, "I'll come right out and tell you. I don't care for your kind. Never have." He steps back to where he originally was, very aware of the baleful look he was receiving. "I wouldn't lower myself to talk to the likes of you now if there weren't things important to both of us to discuss." The contempt in his deep voice was obvious.  
  
"Keh!" InuYasha revealed his own contemptuousness, "The only thing I have to say to you is; Drop Dead!"  
  
"Oh, I think you will want to hear what I have to say," he moves to rest his hand on one of the two swords he was wearing...  
  
InuYasha puts a hand to where Tessusaiga should be and his hatred of this loathsome man grew, "Bastard!!"  
  
"What?" Akunin draws the chipped-looking blade and holds it up, "This worthless thing?" He laughs and InuYasha clenches his fists, 'If only I could reach him...'  
  
Akunin turns his head and calls out, "Kazuho!"  
  
A man comes through the doorway at the end of the huge room, hurrying to Akunin's side and bowing, "Hai, Taijiya-san?"  
  
Akunin pulls the sheath out of his belt, slides Tessusaiga into it and hands it to the other man, all the while never taking his eyes off of the agitated Hanyou, reveling in each miniscule betraying flicker of emotion. "You may have this. A token of appreciation for your service."  
  
Kazuho bows and takes the sword from him, "Arigato, Taijiya-san!" He bows again.  
  
Akunin dismisses him and he leaves with his prize.  
  
InuYasha watches all this with a sinking feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that had nothing to do with any lingering effects of his enforced sleep. _'Shit! At least Kagome..._' His eyes widen in shock and he turns back to face the scarred man. Stepping up to the bars he snarls, "Why do I smell Kagome on YOU?!?"  
  
Akunin smiles at him, "Ah! You see, we do have something to discuss."  
  
InuYasha grabs the bars wishing they were the man's neck instead and bares his fangs, "If you've harmed her..."  
  
Akunin adopts an injured look, "Oh no..." then he smiles, "Not yet."  
  
The Hanyou throws his weight against the bars, furiously enraged, "BASTARD!! Where IS she?!!"  
  
Akunin puts up a halting hand, "Don't worry, she's perfectly safe...for now." He points his finger at the red-garbed creature, "And it all depends on you."  
  
InuYasha feels the rage boiling up inside and takes several deep breaths to try and calm himself, _'No, not now...I don't know where she is...I could –'_ The rage subsides, but only some. That snarling beast inside was just waiting for his control to slip. He lets go of the bars and crosses his arms to look semi-detachedly at his tormentor. "What do you want?"  
  
Akunin laughs in amusement, "I want many things!" He sighs and looks directly at his captive, "What I want from you...is cooperation." He turns his back and walks toward the middle of the room, gesturing widely around him.  
  
InuYasha glances at the other cages of various sizes, the larger ones on wheels, that line the huge room. Most of them were empty, but some held miserable lesser youkai; the source of the fear-stench.  
  
"You see - I have a reputation to maintain, "Akunin catches his attention again, "As the greatest Demon Exterminator ever. I have been hired to capture Youkai, as many as I can, and I am paid well for it." He smiles his twisted smile again, "I would prefer to do the killing, but that's not what I'm paid for."  
  
He walks back to the caged Hanyou, "The Lord of this palace quite enjoys bloodshed and violence, but only from a safe distance. So he has erected an arena designed for his amusements," he pauses and sneers, "and I provide the entertainment."  
  
InuYasha's eyes have narrowed to slits, waiting for what he knows he isn't going to like. The muscles in his jaw clench tightly and he grits out, "And?"  
  
Akunin looks at him with a smirk, "And - you will do the only thing your kind is good for..." he steps dangerously close to the cage to throw his taunt, "...Kill or be killed!"  
  
InuYasha rushes at the bars, reaching for that hated face, but Akunin's reflexes move him swiftly out of harm's way, further frustrating the Hanyou.  
  
Akunin grins at him, enjoying the thrill, "I'll give you that one for free." He pulls on his close-fitting sleeves, tugging them back into place. "But be warned, filthy Cur," he steps closer again, stopping just out of reach, "Your Kagome...it is Kagome isn't it?" He raises an eyebrow as InuYasha bares his teeth at him. "Hai...your Kagome's health depends upon your cooperation."  
  
He reaches into one sleeve, pulls out a bit of green material and tosses it at the cage where a clawed hand quickly catches it. "You have three hours to decide." Akunin turns on his heel and strides out of the room, the youkai in their cages shrinking away as he passes.  
  
InuYasha glares at him until he is out of sight then examines the torn piece of cloth, barely as long as his hand. He frowns and brings it up to his face, closing his eyes as he inhales deeply, "Kagome..." 

----------------------------------------------------------  
  
A servant tending the palace Gardens stops what he is doing and looks up at the strangely human howl echoing across the grounds, listening and feeling a chill run up his spine until it dies away. Glad of the midday sun warming his back, he shrugs and returns to his duties. 


	5. Past and Present Misdeeds

A/N – Sorry about the wait. There have been many things going on that left me with no time or energy to commit to writing and I wasn't happy with the events I had mapped out, so it took me a while to figure out why. I finally solved the time issue and the problem with the plot and here it is. I'm all for quality over quantity.  
  
Disclaimer – I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. They are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation that I hope is up to the quality of the real series.  
  
**Chapter 5: Past and Present Misdeeds  
**  
All through the short meal with the garrulous Noa, Sango sits silently while Miroku charms the old woman and manages to get the rest of her encounter with "that bad man" from yesterday. The Monk keeps sending the silent young woman questioning glances and vows to get her to tell him what she knows later, when they are alone.  
  
They take their leave of the lonely old lady after making a promise to come back another time. Then Miroku blesses the worn building before they wave goodbye to the smiling woman and walk back to the road, going east.  
  
They walk for a bit, Sango with Kirara once more in her arms and with her eyes on the ground in front of her feet, Miroku with his eyes on her. He finally grabs her arm to stop her, turning her to face him. She looks up, startled as he frowns at her, "All right, tell me who this "Akunin" is."  
  
"Houshi-sama!" She is surprised at his intensity and it shows.  
  
He lets go of her and says more calmly, "Please, Sango."  
  
Kirara cranes her head back and meows up at her with an encouraging tone.  
  
Sango pets the cat and nods to the Monk. "He was...once of my village," she says reluctantly as she turns to continue walking, Miroku keeping step and paying close attention, his staff jingling merrily in contrast to the mood.  
  
She is silent for a minute, searching for words, "He was one of the best Taijiya, his skills were second only to my father. He was good enough and confident enough to take on many exterminating jobs by himself. My father would caution him about taking risks, but Akunin would laugh and claim that he was not afraid."  
  
She drew silent again for several minutes, and Miroku waited patiently, understanding that talk of her family and home was difficult for her.  
  
Sango lifted Kirara up to nuzzle the concerned feline, drawing courage from her loyal life-long companion. "Disturbing stories began to be heard; of Taijiya causing much property damage and blackmailing villages for exorbitant sums to rid them of youkai infestations. Even more disturbing were the stories of preventable deaths caused by the carelessness of Taijiya."  
  
Her eyes stare into the distance, seeing the past. "My father would reassure anyone that came to him with these shocking tales, telling them that they were just malicious rumors with no basis for truth."  
  
She sighs, "But he was wrong," The sad glance she gives to Miroku makes him regret making her remember things best left forgotten.  
  
Her tale continues, "Akunin was the reason for everything...and more." Another uncomfortable pause, "When my father confronted him, they quarreled. Akunin refused to follow the Taijiya Ways, claiming that they were foolish and outdated, that there were riches to be had for those cunning enough to take advantage of convenient situations." This last was said with distaste coloring her words.  
  
"For this, my Father claimed he had shamed our whole clan with his treacheries...and banished him, warning Akunin to never use the trappings of Taijiya again and to never return."  
  
She bows her head and her voice drops, "There was a girl that he had been courting." She turns to look at Miroku with a slightly pleading expression, "You must understand, Akunin could be very charming, and when his duplicity became known, we were all of us surprised."  
  
Sango faces forward again, "When my father told him to leave, he did. But later that night, Akunin returned in secret to try and talk this maiden into leaving with him, promising her all manner of things. But she would have none of it; for without honor there is nothing. She refused him, and Akunin grew angry, showing his true nature by trying to force her to go with him."  
  
Miroku frowns with a surge of anger at the thought of such a thing happening, but stays silent, not wanting to interrupt.  
  
She looks at him but her eyes slide away, "Akunin made two mistakes that night. The first was going against my Father's judgement by returning. The second was his arrogance to try and force a trained Taijiya to do something she didn't want to do." Her voice held a bit of pride, "They fought and she cut him deeply across his left cheek. The noise of their fight alerted the warriors in the village but he fled before he could be caught. When my Father learned of Akunin's actions, he declared that he would kill Akunin himself if he was ever found."  
  
They walked in silence together, the sun high overhead and the gentle breeze causing the tall grass on either side of the road to rustle softly.  
  
Miroku thinks about all she has said...and not said. He glances at her sideways, feeling strangely guilty, "Gomen, Sango."  
  
She stops and looks at him in confusion, "Eh?"  
  
He sighs and halts beside her, "for making you recall such sad memories."  
  
Sango frowns and shakes her head, "Ie, Houshi-sama. You're not to blame for any of this. If there is any blame, it belongs to him!" her emphatic words are clear and he believes she means it, but as he watches, that glimmer of hatred returns, "It has to be him!"  
  
Kirara jumps down and Sango raises a clenched fist to stare at it, no longer just a woman but a warrior that is prepared for battle. "With my people gone...and this man's behavior the same as before..." She looks back at the Monk who watches her in concern, but doesn't really see him, "The scar in the same place...together, they are proof that it must be Akunin!"  
  
Sango takes a deep breath and flicks her pony-tailed black hair back over her shoulder, watching Kirara transform from cute kitty to feline predator, a signal to her human companions that she was ready to go. "And if it is..." She looks at Miroku very seriously, "He is a dangerous man, we cannot underestimate him."  
  
He stares at her and she adds; "Akunin is capable of anything."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
There is not much in the wooden-walled room to distract herself, only one small table and a curiously large iron chest with a very sturdy lock. The windows are covered with a heavily carved wooden lattice on the inside and the outer shutters are closed keeping the stale air trapped inside. The only light was coming from a lone candle left burning on the table.  
  
Kagome tugs half-heartedly again at her bound wrists held above her head by a heavy metal ring set crudely but solidly into the wall at her back. She sighs and leans her unbruised cheek against her raised arm making the cloth gag tug a little and bothering her sore flesh anyway.  
  
She blinks back weary tears and takes several deep breaths, staring at the candle flame across the room from her. It seemed closer than it was but was too far to reach, even by stretching out one free leg...as she had tried and failed earlier.  
  
_'I suppose I should be glad to have any kind of light...'_ Her thoughts slow as her eyes are drawn to the wall with the only door on it. The macabre collection of edged weapons and tools, for purposes she knew not, hanging all over the wall to either side and above the door causes her to shudder and pull her eyes away to stare at the tiny flame once more. Likewise she did not look again at the woven mat that she knelt on. The origin of it's mysterious stains were not something she wanted to think about, nor were the rough scratches covering the wood below the ring that she could feel through her shirt when she leaned back.  
  
Kagome closes her eyes with a worried frown, _'InuYasha...where are you?'_ She bites her lip and sifts through her sketchy memory.  
  
The rest of the trip in the back of the wagon she remembers not at all and an uneasy feeling washes over her when she tries to focus on what had been said when they had arrived here...wherever this was.  
  
_'Something about..."My Lord"...and money...and..."cage"...I think.'_ Flickering images by torchlight, distorted by pain and fear, remain indistinct and there was only a vague recollection of being carried down long hallways and past furnishings with blurred colors and features...then waking up here...mostly in the dark...and completely alone.  
  
Kagome opens her eyes to stare apathetically at the candle, its wax slowly dripping, and listens to her own breathing. She watches it burn down until it reaches the brass holder and gutters out, leaving only faint traces of light that seep around the edges of the window shutters to keep it from being completely black. The ensuing silent, dark, dragging hours that follow are demoralizing and she slips into an uneasy doze.  
  
It is an eternity later, it seems, before the sound of the door sliding open startles her to alertness. Blinking at the light spilling in from beyond the doorway, she watches her captor enter, still wearing the garb of the Taijiya over his lean muscled form, with another lit candle and a bundle under his arm. He closes the door behind him and crosses the room to set the object on the table then goes around the room, using the candle to light several lamps mounted on the walls.  
  
He sets the candle down and slants a sideways glance at the wide-eyed girl watching his every move. He turns to face her with a slight smile. A flick of his wrist and a knife appears in his right hand from up his sleeve and he steps toward her, twirling the knife playfully with each step.  
  
Dull flashes from the reflecting blade causes Kagome to wince, her eyes sensitive from being in the dark for so long, and her heartbeat speeds up with paralyzing fear, _'Oh God!'  
_  
Still with that twisted half-smile he kneels on one knee in front of her and reaches out with his free hand to take hold of her chin and tilt her head up.  
  
He heart is pumping madly and a whimper escapes as he brings the knife close to her face, placing the flat edge against her cheek, the cold metal sliding caressingly along her skin. Kagome stares directly at her own death in his black eyes and begins to tremble inside, _'Oh My God!!'_ Her family's faces flash in her mind, _'Mama – Jichan – Souta!'_ Sudden regret assails her at never seeing them again – and one face over all; with dear dog-like ears surrounded by a wealth of silvery hair. She closes her eyes to picture that tender look on his face that he had just for her...one last time, _'InuYasha...'  
_  
There is a tug...the gag loosens and her eyes fly open to see the scarred man staring at her. Confusion rushes through her as she spits the cloth out of her dry mouth, "Nani...?" Her voice croaks and she tries to swallow.  
  
He smiles again and puts the knife away, then sits on the floor in front of her, "Good. I was concerned that I had hit you too hard Little Bird," he pauses to admire the flare of anger that leaps to her eyes at the sound of the nickname and grins at her. "There are things we must discuss."  
  
A little lightheaded with relief and her mind beginning to function again, she clears her throat and stares at him, "Discuss what?" Her eyes widen at the familiar pulse of Shikon Shards coming from his person; they are already showing signs of being tainted by his greedy desires. She stiffens and looks him directly in the eye to demand, "Give them back!"  
  
He raises his eyebrows in surprise and reaches into his clothes for the small bottle containing the Shards to rattle it, "These?" He shakes his head in amusement and looks at them briefly, "I don't think so Little Bird," before tucking them back out of sight.  
  
She stares at the Shards' glow for a moment, their deepening tint a good measure of the darkness seething inside his pseudo-pleasant demeanor, not to mention his earlier behavior and treatment of her. She studies his face recognizing a ruthless intensity in his eyes and wisely holds back useless words of appeal.  
  
A wisp of memory...sounds echoing in the wavering shadows...a deep voiced answer to a greeting... "Akunin." She watches his twisted smile return.  
  
His admiration is unsettling, "Ah, my resourceful Little Bird!" He puts his hands on his knees, elbows out wide, and bows his head at her, "Correct!" He relaxes his arms and straightens, "A bit bare as introductions go, but it will do." He tilts his head, "And you...?"  
  
She keeps her mouth firmly shut and he shrugs, "I prefer 'Little Bird' anyway."  
  
Kagome huffs in disgust and turns her head away but remains silent.  
  
He sighs and stares at her profile for a few dragging minutes with one elbow resting on a knee and chin in hand, then shrugs to himself before speaking, "Many have heard of your search for the Shards of the Shikon no Tama." She keeps her head turned from him and he frowns, "You and the Hanyou."  
  
Her eyes slant back to him and he continues, "Many believe that the Shikon no Tama is gone, others think that it never existed."  
  
Kagome turns to face him with a frown, wondering what he is getting at.  
  
He pats the spot where the bottle of Shards is hidden, "But we know different, don't we Little Bird?"  
  
She rolls her eyes at the name and barely manages to keep her mouth shut, _'I'll "Little Bird" him! Just wait until I get my hands on a bow.'  
_  
All humor fades from his face and his voice grows cold, "It is said that you travel with a Monk and Taijiya as well."  
  
She glances at his familiar black outfit with widening eyes and he nods at her, "That's right; I'm Taijiya." His voice becomes remote, "I had heard that my people had been slaughtered, every last one." His eyes narrow with, what seemed to be, satisfaction, but she couldn't be sure.  
  
He continues, "I went to my village, and saw the destruction myself." Someone listening to him would claim that his coldness stemmed from great grief of this tale, but anyone looking into his eyes, as she was when he said this, would see the violent joy he was feeling, and shudder in fear.  
  
Kagome clenches her teeth to keep them from chattering as a wave of iciness washes over her and swallows back bile. Fingers curling and her body trembling, she pulls her eyes away from his, not wanting to see anymore.  
  
Akunin's attention is still inward, "There were many graves..." then his eyes focus on her, "Yet one lives." His hand snaps out and grabs her chin, forcing her to face him, "Who is it?" Her breathing speeds up and she stares fearfully at him, saying nothing.  
  
In a second, he is up on his knees and grabbing her hair to pull her head back, bending her neck painfully and the knife reappears in his other hand, pricking the skin of her throat. "Tell me!"  
  
Kagome gasps and closes her eyes, tears running back into her hair but she remains silent and awaits the lethal thrust.  
  
Just as suddenly, he releases her hair. Her eyes open to see him cut the rope binding her hands and then turn to walk back to the table. She lowers her stiff arms and rubs her raw wrists, still shuddering and watching his back. She glances longingly at the door but didn't trust her legs to hold her.  
  
Akunin picks up the bundle, turns and tosses it at her, "Put this on."  
  
She barely catches it and takes a shaky breath, not fooled for a minute by the smile that has returned to his face, "Why?"  
  
He looks at her bare legs and returns the knife to its concealed sheath, smiling wider, "You're unacceptably dressed to accompany me."  
  
His leering glance makes her skin crawl and she tugs down on the edge of her green uniform skirt. The bundle in her hands turns out to be a plain blue kimono with a matching obi. She looks back to him and uses the wall at her back to climb unsteadily to her feet, still holding the kimono, "Accompany you?"  
  
He bows with a mocking smirk, "To see your Dog, of course!"  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
To Be Continued... 


	6. Disturbing Plans

**A.N.** – Sorry about the wait, but as they say; "Life happens" And finding time to write as well as a bad case of writer's block didn't help things. Do not worry, I will finish this story, the end is already in my head. So, however long it takes, the end is near. (Not the end of the world, so don't panic! LoL) It turns out that this is not the last chapter and you have waited so patiently for it...I thank you and here it is.  
  
**Disclaimer** – I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. They are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation that I hope is up to the quality of the real series.  
  
**Chapter 6 – Disturbing Plans**  
  
Miroku and Sango come to a large village bordering a wide river overshadowed by a walled compound with large buildings set above on a nearby hill. They direct Kirara to land just beyond the village in a wooded area.  
  
With her giant boomerang across her back and carrying the now tiny cat, the Taijiya follows the Monk into town to look for information. He suggests a public house or eating establishment for the best place to find lots of gossip or news and she agrees with him.  
  
The dust churns at their feet and people stare at the strangers before hurrying away. This behavior continues the farther they go and it was also growing more noticeable that the person they are staring at the most was Sango.  
  
An old woman stares at the Taijiya with an alarmed look on her face before picking up her basket and hurrying away, still casting glances back over her shoulder. Sango stops walking to watch her go with a frown.  
  
Miroku sighs and turns to her, "I don't think we're going to have much luck getting anyone to talk to us..."  
  
"No..." she sighs back and says resignedly, "not with me here."  
  
He looks around at a few people who were eyeing them suspiciously, "Maybe you should wait back where we landed while I ask around instead." He looks back at her, "I'll come to you when I find out what we need to know."  
  
Sango nods reluctantly then squints her eyes and says distrustfully, "Only asking...no flirting." She pokes him in the arm with her finger, "We don't have the time your games..."  
  
He looks at her innocently then sighs and nods, "only asking," holding up his free hand in promise.  
  
She stares hard at him then turns on her heel to stomp back out of the village.  
  
He watches her go and straightens his shoulders, "Well now..." He looks around and spots a small group of variously aged men standing and talking to one side of the dirt street. Miroku brushes at his robes to remove any dust and approaches them. "Pardon me..."  
  
====================  
  
Sango sits in the shade of a tree while the afternoon passes slowly and petting the sleeping Kirara in her lap. _'If that Monk is taking so long because of some pretty face...'_ She sighs and leans back against the tree- trunk. _'I'm not going to let myself get angry...it's not like I care or anything...'_ She yawns and her eyes close, _'...he just better not...'_ her thoughts drift as she joins the cat in slumber.  
  
The musical jingle of the Monk's staff is familiar enough that it only makes the cat's ears twitch and disturbs the sleeping woman not at all.  
  
Miroku slowly approaches the pair under the tree and stops just inside it's shadow on the ground to stare at her lovely features in repose dappled by playful sunlight that had found it's way through the canopy of leaves overhead. He leans with both hands wrapped around the staff and enjoys a few moments of silent contemplation before Kirara lifts her head and stares unblinkingly back at him. She "mews" and jumps down, waking her mistress.  
  
Sango blinks, looks up at him and stands. "Houshi-sama," she takes a few steps toward him and asks impatiently, "what did you find out?"  
  
He moves closer to stand in front of her, "Yes, the man is well known here." He turns his head, breaking eye contact, and frowns slightly as he steps around her to sit down near the tree and lays his staff in the grass beside him.  
  
Sango follows and kneels facing him, watching his troubled expression and braces herself, "And...?"  
  
He meets her eyes with heavy concern, "You were right Sango...it's Akunin."  
  
Her breath comes out in a rush and she shifts sideways to sit with a plop.  
  
The Monk pulls a tender shaft of grass from the rougher outer sheath and twirls it in his fingers as he continues, "It seems that he is working for Lord Narushi up at the castle we saw above the town."  
  
She watches the piece of grass in his fingers spin like her thoughts, "Doing what?"  
  
"The villagers say that he has been capturing youkai..." he takes a deep breath, "...to pit them against each other in fights to the death for the Lord's personal amusement."  
  
She stares at him in disbelief and Miroku nods at her with a serious expression, "The people are scared to talk much because Lord Narushi is also in the habit of tossing the odd human in with the demons to be 'executed' for the flimsiest of reason-"  
  
Sango gasps and jumps up, outrage overflowing and her hands clenched, "Unforgivable!!" She reaches for her boomerang and slings it onto her back in one smooth motion, "Let's go, Houshi-sama!"  
  
Miroku frowns up at her but remains sitting, "Sango, wait..."  
  
She turns back to him, impatience dominating her being, "Nani?"  
  
"Think for a moment..." He looks at her seriously and sighs, "We cannot just walk up to a Lord's castle and demand our friends back..."  
  
Sango stares angrily at the sensible sounding Monk, her brain racing to find a way past his logic before her shoulders droop in defeat. She steps back, un-slings Hiraikotsu and drops onto her knees in front of him again, resting her hands on her thighs with her head bowed.  
  
Kirara "meows" and rubs against her leg then curls up to begin washing a paw.  
  
Miroku crosses his arms and bends his head down in thought, "Hmm...I also heard that Lord Narushi hires sooth-sayers and so-called-mystics by the dozen." He looks at the top of her head, waiting until she raises her eyes in question. The slight gleam in his catches her attention, "Rumors say he's obsessed with prophecies and," he starts to smile, "...and Omens."  
  
Her eyes widen and she returns his smile.  
  
"Now," his smile fades as he rests his chin in his hand and ponders out loud, "that might get us in..." he sighs, "but then what?" He sighs again and shrugs, "We don't know if they're even..." He looks at her then away, not wanting to say the words.  
  
Sango frowns and nods, "Hai, Houshi-sama...they...could be..." She swallows hard, bites her lip in anxiety and blinks back tears.  
  
Kirara finishes cleaning her paw and jumps up and "Meows" loudly at them with all four legs held stiffly, her tails raised high and twitching. Her human companions look at her and she flicks her ears and gives then a growling "merrow" with her eyes open wide, staring hard at her mistress.  
  
Sango gasps and exclaims, "Kirara...scout? In the Castle?"  
  
The cat nods her head once then sits and wraps her tails primly around her feet.  
  
"Eh?" Miroku turns from the Taijiya to the cat and back again, "Do you think she can?"  
  
Sango smiles and reaches out to pick up the brave cat, nuzzling her with affection. Girl and cat both look at the Monk and Sango nods at him, "Who would notice a small cat who is smart enough to use the shadows and hide when necessary?"  
  
Kirara "Mews" at him and jumps down to sit in front of Sango and stare up at her.  
  
Sango gazes back and says in a serious tone, "We need to know if Shippo, Kagome & InuYasha are there and where they are." She watches Kirara blink at her and adds, "We will be waiting outside the walls of the Castle where you can find us." The cat stands to shake her whole body, then leaps away on her mission.  
  
Sango straightens with renewed hope, looks at the Monk's frowning face and asks, "What is it, Houshi-sama?"  
  
He sighs, "I may be able to get us in...but I don't know if 'Bad Omens' will be enough to get Lord Narushi to release them." He looks at her, impatience to be on the move practically radiating from her and continues, "And then there is Akunin to deal with. I'm sure he will argue against any superstitions and misgivings the Lord may have." He watches Sango's face turn cold and her eyes harden with determination.  
  
"You get us in Houshi-sama..." She draws her sword, fishes out her sharpening stone and begins to rasp it along the blade's already sharp edge. "I'll deal with Akunin."  
  
He re-crosses his arms and watches her rhythmic motions with an uneasy feeling.  
  
============  
  
The polished floor in the long hallway is smooth and cold. Looking down, as he sits waiting, he sees his reflection and pushes back the loose mop of hair that flops annoyingly back over his bright blue eyes.  
  
Shippo tugs at the hateful collar around his neck and holds back a useless growl. _'I wonder if InuYasha feels like this about his necklace...?'_ He sighs and stares at the embroidered slippers peeking out from under the Lord's rich robes as he continues to wait for the conversation between the two men to end.  
  
The other man bows to the Lord and Narushi turns away, pulling on the metal-fiber leash attached to the Kitsune's collar.  
  
Shippo jumps up to follow obediently though he silently seethed inside. _'Damnit! Now where are we going?'_ He scrambles to keep up with the Lord's strides.  
  
They turn down a side way and head for huge double-doors at the end, _'Oh, no!'_ Shippo's steps lag and the leash yanks him forward, stumbling to keep his balance, all the while a deep dread growing as they approach that place that he had been to once before. _'Not there...'_ He grabs hold of the leash and leans back on his heels to resist against the pull...and slides across the slick surface of the floor. _'Damn!!'  
_  
An irritated yank from the Lord sends him sprawling at the base of the heavily carved wooden doors, and he has to scurry backwards to prevent being hit by them as two guards on either side pull them open.  
  
The Lord walks through and Shippo reluctantly follows him into the almost cavernous room. They approach a heavily decorated and cushioned wide chair standing alone near the wall in front of the doorway located near the corner of this end of the columned room.  
  
Lord Narushi seats himself, head up proudly with the appearance of totally ignoring the ragged Kitsune that plops himself down to one side of the 'throne' on the floor.  
  
A soft sigh escapes Shippo's lips as he sits with head bowed, not wanting to look down the long expanse of dirt floor that stretched from one side to the other between the towering columns where an immense cage made entirely of metal had been erected. The smell of blood and death were almost overpowering to his sensitive nose.  
  
A few of the Lord's attendants and council enter and move to stand on either side of him in small groups whispering among themselves. The small and insignificant Youkai on a leash stays hidden behind his unkempt hair...eavesdropping shamelessly.  
  
"...Again so soon?"  
  
"...Something special, Lord Narushi is quite excited."  
  
"...With the Taijiya?" Shippo flinches and shrinks into himself.  
  
"...Don't know who...do you...?"  
  
"...Never saw her before."  
  
Shippo's curiosity gets the better of him and he parts his hair to peek around the chair at the dark man, who was responsible for his being here, standing a few yards away and shudders. There is a woman in a blue kimono on his other side. He can't see her clearly until Akunin turns to her and Shippo sees her face...  
  
He gasps, "Ka-!" and slaps both hands over his mouth and darts his eyes here and there to see if anyone had heard him. Akunin's deep voice rang in his head; _**"If you utter so much as one word...one peep...I will rip out your tongue and eat it for breakfast! Then I will serve the rest of you to the Lord's dogs!"  
**_  
Shippo crept backward out of sight and held back sobs. Self-disgust and fear causing his tiny body to shake uncontrollably. _'Oh Kagome...me and my big mouth...'_ He curls into a miserable ball on the floor, his crying stifled into soft whimpers, and punches himself on the head. _'It's my fault she's here...'  
_  
He wraps his arms around himself and begins to rock back in forth.  
  
===========  
  
The tight grip on Kagome's arm is more than enough to remind her that Akunin has all of the control right now, but her attention is captured by the huge metal cage in the center of a building large enough to rival the Gymnasium back at her school. The iron monstrosity, illuminated by light streaming through high windows placed between the tall columns all down both sides of the long room, was covered with symbols, fudas, and other containment charms.  
  
She stared at the carved dragonheads capping the ends of the heavy poles that supported the conical roof of the enclosure and the golden ball that caught the light at the apex in the center at least twenty feet high. She measured with her eyes the width of the circular erection in amazement, _'It must be about forty feet across...as big, if not bigger than the lion tamer's cage I saw at the circus! Now why...?'_ Her thoughts fall silent as she tries to imagine what they would possibly need a cage of those proportions for.  
  
Two men are standing on high platforms on either side of the gate on the far side of the cage with ropes and pulleys for the raising and lowering of the door within their reach. A loud creak from the opening of the doors at the far end of the long room breaks her fascination. She turns her head to watch a good sized cage on wheels roll in, pushed by six strong men by way of an extended 'T' shaped handle, well out of reach of the occupant dressed in red.  
  
Her eyes widen in shock and she gasps out, "InuYasha!"  
  
Akunin's grip tightens painfully and he leans forward to whisper in her ear, "Not another word, or you'll both regret it...Kagome."  
  
Her head whips around at the sound of her name, her loose hair slapping him in the face, to stare angrily at him. His feral smile enhances his promise of violence and totally infuriates her. Reflexively, she tries to pull out of his grasp but he only forces her closer, squeezing her arm hard and making her wince.  
  
He chuckles softly and loosens his hold on her, though not letting go.  
  
She looks away to watch the smaller cage rattle closer. The Hanyou was stubbornly standing in the center of the wagon-cage despite the unsteady rocking of its floor with every jolt, aloof with his hands hidden in his wide sleeves. _'He looks all right.'_ She breathes a small sigh of relief before tensing at the clanging sound of the wagon latching onto the big cage wall and the squeaking of both doors being levered up.  
  
One of the handlers moves forward to grab one of the spears leaning against a platform and proceeds to poke it through the bars to try and prod the irritated Hanyou to exit the wagon. InuYasha snarls and swiftly reaches out to snap off the head and tosses it to the floor contemptuously. The man jumps back, looks at the splintered wood where the tip used to be and turns a questioning glance at the overseeing Taijiya.  
  
InuYasha follows his gaze and feels his heart skip, _'Kagome...'_ He watches Akunin slip his free hand around the girl's slender neck and raise a taunting eyebrow at him. Her pleading eyes are the only thing that reminded him to keep the ravening beast, that howled for release, locked deep in his soul.  
  
His gaze narrows, focusing on the real enemy, and hops out of his small prison down onto the dirt floor of the larger one. Here was the source of that wretched smell of fear and death, old blood mingled in the dirt under his feet, churning up with the dust to assail his senses and chipping away at his precarious control.  
  
The gate slams down and is locked before the wagon-cage is pulled away. InuYasha keeps his back to them in a show of unconcern and slowly walks to the very center while calculating the possible strength of the barred barrier isolating him. _'No way of knowing until I try them,'_ his eyes swing back to the smirking man holding Kagome and feels his lips lift in an answering sneer, _'and no way I'll risk...I just have wait for an opportunity.'  
_  
Hands hidden once more in the voluminous sleeves, InuYasha continues to glare at his foe and takes a deep breath to await whatever was planned. He rubs the small piece of green material he had tucked into one sleeve between his fingertips and feels a small amount of calm ease the growing need to shred everything is sight.  
  
The sound of the doors leading to the holding area open again and he turns to see another wheeled cage pushed through. The frenzied movements of the youkai trapped inside were accompanied by its frightful screeching as it throws itself from one side to the other in a futile effort to escape.  
  
He watches for a moment then turns back to stare at the devious man, finally understanding his earlier words, _**"...Kill or be killed."**_ He feels a growl begin to rumble deep inside as his disgust for this man grows.  
  
Kagome drops her eyes and closes them from the overwhelming feeling of helplessness, knowing that she is being used to hold InuYasha in check.  
  
Akunin shifts his hand on her throat to force her head back and wraps his other arm around her waist to pull her snugly against him. "Oh no, my Little Bird," the arm around her middle tightened as he hissed the hated nickname in her ear, "You will watch." His breath is hot on her ear, "That is what you wanted, is it not?" She tries to push his arm away but it might as well be made of steel for all the good it did.  
  
She opens her eyes and watches InuYasha turn to face the screaming youkai that, upon being released into the arena-cage, immediately leapt to attack him and the sight is blurred by tears that spill over and slide down her discolored cheek. She blinks them away to see him dodge another rush, turning once to glance her direction before spinning around to slash out with his claws at the lunging creature and quickly end its life.  
  
InuYasha stands over the dead thing and fists his bloodstained hand in frustration, the satisfaction of his baser nature adding to his anger. He shoots a hate-filled look at Akunin with his arm around Kagome and grits his teeth to keep from howling like the beast that seethed inside him was longing to do. His internal struggle drowned out the muted sounds of approval coming from the other occupants surrounding a solitary seated person in their rich clothing.  
  
The creaking of the wooden doors opening again at the far end reaches his ears, making him turn to see three smaller cages slung on long poles being carried by more men and feels his heartbeat speed up.  
  
=====  
  
Feline eyes watch unblinking all that happens from the shadowed heights of the massive roof beams near the ceiling of the huge building. Intelligence unknown to normal cats lurks in the depths of the misleading shape of the tiny enigmatic Kirara, and she holds perfectly still as one does when stalking prey.  
  
Only the slitted eyes show any movement, flicking from the shivering movements of the small Kitsune half hidden behind the 'throne-like' chair, to watch the rolling progress of yet another wheeled cage pass through the large doors. From the panting silver-haired Hanyou standing among a growing litter of youkai corpses inside an enormous metal cage...to the thoughtful young girl, who always had a treat for her and gentle hands, being held in the clutches of one that the cat-youkai remembers all too well.  
  
Her ears go flat and her eyes narrow in hatred as she bares her fangs. _'Time to go,'_ and she turns to leap down to the floor behind one column and back through a crack she that had discovered earlier that led to the outside. _'Find Sango.'  
_  
To be continued...


	7. Cheerless Reunion

  
Disclaimer – I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. They are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation that I hope is up to the quality of the real series.  
  
**Chapter 7 – Cheerless Reunion**  
  
The afternoon is steadily making it's way toward evening and the noises that drift up from the village are as sporadic as the intermittent breeze that only teases of cooler temperatures to come.  
  
One of the two men standing guard at the gates of the Castle sighs with boredom and leans on his spear, drawing his fellow guard's attention. The shorter of the two looks at his lethargic friend, pushes his helmet back a bit and says, "Oi, Torai."  
  
Torai's eyes flick at the shorter man disinterestedly, "Hmm?"  
  
He smiles at him, "Did you see the new girl in the kitchen?"  
  
Torai straightens and turns more, a smile coming to his face, "Hai, Norito...very pretty."  
  
Norito leans closer and drops his voice conspiratorially, "I hear she's not married or promised to anyone," he frowns, "But I didn't catch her name..."  
  
Torai raises his eyebrows, "It's Kyumi."  
  
Norito turns with mock-surprise on his face and says archly, "Ooohh! Been asking, have you?" He chuckles good-naturedly at his friend's discomfort.  
  
Torai flushes and turns away only to stiffen at the sound of jingling. He looks down the path to see two people approaching and shushes the shorter man. "Quiet, someone's coming."  
  
They both grip their spears and step forward to challenge the newcomers; a Monk carrying a jingling staff and followed by a woman, dressed and armed like a warrior with hard eyes over a mask covering the lower half of her face.  
  
The Monk bows, "I am Miroku." He waves a hand behind him and the woman likewise bows, "and this is my bodyguard...pay her no mind." He ignores the fleeting glare she shoots at him and continues importantly, "I have come with urgent news for Lord Narushi." His voice drops dramatically, "A most dire warning and one I must not delay in delivering!"  
  
Torai and Norito glance at each other and the shorter speaks up, "The Lord Narushi is occupied. You should come back tomorrow."  
  
The Monk pounds his staff in emphasis, frowning at the two men, "I do not think that you understand the importance of my information." He looks from one to the other, "Lord Narushi is in great peril and my intervention may very well save his life!"  
  
The shorter man looks uncertain and the taller speaks up, "We have our orders. Now-"  
  
Miroku cuts him off, "Your Lord did not know of my arrival," he stares hard at the tall guard and makes a negating hand-motion, "so how can your 'orders' apply?"  
  
His reasonable words and absolute confidence makes the man waver, "But-"  
  
"But nothing!" The Monk's strident tones are very convincing, "The events that have been set in motion by the actions of another have only one chance of being stopped! My sources have never been wrong and they're not wrong now!"  
  
Miroku wraps both hands around his staff, changes his tactics and shakes his head sorrowfully. "If you turn me away and something happens that could have been prevented..." He shrugs and sighs, "I am not to blame." He hangs his head and turns his back on them.  
  
Norito looks worried, "Wait, Houshi-sama..."  
  
Torai bends close to his partner and whispers, "Are you sure? You know what Sakutaro said..."  
  
Norito whispers back, "Hai, but what choice do we have?" He straightens and says aloud, "Please, Houshi-sama, follow me. I will take you to see Lord Narushi."  
  
Miroku gives a smug smile and wink to Sango before turning with a sober face to bow to the two guards, "Ah, may all your days be guided by such wisdom as is today."  
  
The gates are opened, Miroku and Sango are led through, with a small, unseen twin-tailed shadow slipping in after them just as they are shut once more.  
  
"One more thing..."  
  
The Monk's words stop Norito and he looks back, "Hai, Houshi-sama?"  
  
"There is one other that must hear me..."  
  
============  
  
Shippo is leaning against the side of the wide chair that Lord Narushi is sitting in, his mind spinning with unanswered questions. The small bit of hope that he had felt when he heard the unmistakable sounds of InuYasha fighting, had shattered upon seeing the Hanyou beset by Youkai in the monstrous cage instead of coming to the rescue as he had first thought.  
  
_'No way!'_ He shakes his shaggy head in disbelief,_ 'How...?_' He creeps forward to peek again and sees the way Akunin is holding Kagome and the hateful glares InuYasha throws toward the twisted Taijiya every chance he gets.  
  
Shippo moves back and plops down, his little shoulders slumped in despair. He closes his eyes and tries to block out the sounds of rattling, slamming doors, the death cries of youkai echoing in the long columned hall, and the close murmur of voices followed by abhorrent laughter and applause.  
  
The nearer double doors opening and rapid footsteps approaching catches the Kitsune's attention. He moves as far as he can and looks around the back of the chair to see a young guardsman bow and whisper something to that uppity Sakutaro that he had seen when he was first brought here.  
  
The curious Shippo watches Sakutaro wave the man away, who then bows and leaves the way he came. Sakutaro steps close to whisper in Lord Narushi's ear and the leery Kitsune shrinks back out of sight.  
  
Strain as he might, he can't hear what is being said. He is listening so hard that he jumps and almost bites his tongue when the Lord's voice rings out.  
  
"Akunin!" Narushi stands gaining the attention of all, including the bearers of yet another cage holding a snarling youkai that had just entered at the far end. They set it down to listen.  
  
The dark Taijiya releases Kagome's waist but retains his hold on her arm, turning her with him and forcing her to bow as he does before answering, "Narushi-sama?"  
  
"Come." Narushi tugs on the leash, sending Shippo tumbling forward before he catches himself whereupon he looks up and sees Kagome looking at him in shock. He stares at her for a moment before a second tug has him trotting after Narushi with his head hung down in shame.  
  
Lord Narushi walks toward the doors, "It seems that you and I have visitors." He pauses and turns to face Akunin, waving a negligent hand, "leave your plaything and come." Fully expecting his command to be obeyed, Narushi exits the room followed by the rest of the group.  
  
_'Damn pompous ass!'_ Akunin's hand tightens on the girl's arm as he glares after the retreating gathering._ 'Just wait until I have no more use for you...'  
_  
Kagome's shock at seeing Shippo turns to fleeting joy that he is alive. _'Thank God!'_ But it quickly turns to anger as she realizes his humiliating predicament. The sudden painful squeezing on her arm causes her to gasp and she quickly looks at the slit-eyed look on Akunin's face and shudders.  
  
She turns away and notices that InuYasha, surrounded by dozens of dead youkai and down on one knee with one hand braced on the ground and the other clinched tightly, was breathing heavily and staring back at her._ 'Hang on...please, hang on...'  
_  
Akunin motions to Kazuha, the main caretaker of the menagerie, to come over.  
  
Kazuha hurries over, "Hai, Taijiya-san?"  
  
"Here," he pushes Kagome into the other man's arms and snarls, "Keep her here and _Don't_ let her out of your sight!" Akunin waits for his affirmative reply before turning on his heel and striding after the Lord's party.  
  
It grows quiet in the cavernous room except for wailing of the caged youkai, which grows more hysterical until finally Kazuha yells over to the handlers to take it back. The other handlers and assistants talk quietly among themselves, many with quizzical expressions and puzzled gestures.  
  
===============  
  
Sango stands in a richly appointed room feeling a little vulnerable without her Hiraikotsu in its accustomed place on her back; Kagome's bow and quiver did little to give her the comfort that her favorite weapon did. She and the Monk standing next to her had earlier decided that it would be more hindrance than helpful this time and she had hidden it safely until they could retrieve it later.  
  
_'No,'_ she wraps her hand around the hilt of her sword in its sheath at her side, _'I will not be able to use it this time.'_ She glances at her handsome companion and then away, shifting her shoulders to ease the tension,_ 'I wish...'_ She pushes the thought away along with her impatience, calling on her training and remembering her father's words before an engagement or during training. _**'Breathe,'**_ he would say and smile before poking her forehead playfully with a finger, _**'and think. Your mind is your best weapon.'  
**_  
Sango takes a deep breath and closes her eyes as she lets it out slowly. _'Hai, Father...I remember.'_ Her eyes open with renewed calm, _'I can do this.'_ She tells herself and lifts her head proudly, _'I must.'_  
  
At the sound of people entering across the room, Miroku looks at Sango, she nods at him and he nods back. They turn and watch Lord Narushi, followed by various other personages, walk to a lone seat and stand in front of it to address them. "Greetings, Lord Monk. I am Narushi," and he sits. "I am told you have some information that is crucial?"  
  
The sight of the Lord's pet is unexpected and Miroku feels Sango's hand grab a handful of cloth on his back to give a slight tug. He gives a slight nod, imperceptible to anyone not close. He bows low, Sango mirroring him, and straightens to step closer, "Hai, Narushi-sama. I am Miroku, a wandering Monk." He pauses and peruses the others in the room and says in puzzlement, "but this information is also for your man; the Taijiya, Akunin."  
  
Narushi looks to the side, "Akunin! Come forward! You will have them spreading rumors that we have no manners here."  
  
The scarred man steps out of the shadows where he had concealed himself to observe for his own reasons. He stops by Lord Narushi's side and bows contemptuously, his eyes glued to the masked woman dressed similarly as he and standing behind the Monk. He straightens with his thoughts in chaos and smiles in honest amazement at her, ignoring the Monk. "Well, well, well...I had hoped..." He takes a step forward but stops at the hatred blazing in those dark eyes, his smile changing to a smirk. "Two years and as beautiful as ever." He spreads his arms wide and says mockingly, "Why, Sango! No greeting?"  
  
She steps around Miroku, rips off her mask and hands it to the confused Monk. She looks away to bow and speak directly to Lord Narushi, "Narushi- sama, this creature-"she points to Akunin who raises an amused brow, "-is a traitor to my people-"  
  
Akunin cuts in annoyingly, "-who are dead and gone-"  
  
She ignores him and continues, "-who has corrupted all we stand for and stained the Honor of all Taijiya-"  
  
Akunin cuts in yet again, "-I repeat, who are dead and gone-"  
  
She grits her teeth, "-who's life is forfeit by our laws-"  
  
Akunin sighs and shakes his head, "-laws of a people who no longer exist-"  
  
Sango finally looks back at him, "even so," she disagrees, "_**I **_am here...and_** I**_ exist...and _they _through _me_."  
  
Narushi looks from one Taijiya to the other in befuddlement, "What is this about?"  
  
At the same time she hears a whisper from behind, "Sango...what are you doing?"  
  
Akunin half-turns to answer his lord, never taking his eyes off of the accusing woman, "Nothing to worry about, Narushi-sama. Just ancient history- "  
  
"Akunin!" Sango steps forward and raises her arm to point at his amused face. "All that aside, there is still the debt _**YOU**_ owe_** ME**_!" She drops her arm and shakes off the hand on her shoulder, determined to not be distracted from her chosen course. "I intend to collect on it!" She narrows her eyes at him and demands, "Do you _deny_ me that right?!"  
  
He stares at her, one hand coming up to stroke a finger along the puckered scar across his left cheek that pulled his mouth up on that side, and shakes his head bemusedly, "No...I cannot deny you that right."  
  
Sakutaro was bent over, whispering in his Lord's ear when Narushi jumps up and exclaims, "Akunin! Does this mean you are accepting her challenge? You will fight this woman?"  
  
Akunin nods and bows mockingly at her, "It is our way."  
  
"Excellent!" Narushi begins rubbing his hands together with childish glee. "Shall you use the Arena?"  
  
He looks at the excited Lord with painful surprise, "Thank you for the offer, Narushi-sama, but I believe the courtyard will do." He turns with a lewd look to the young woman, "I remember how you love the outdoors."  
  
Just as she was about to answer back, _**'Breathe, Sango...and think.'**_ She could almost feel that fond touch and managed to remain silent.  
  
Lord Narushi calls for everyone to go to the courtyard and, dragging a reluctant Shippo, he heads for the door leading to the outside with Akunin and the rest of the gathering not far behind.  
  
Sango turns to follow and is stopped by a hand on her arm. She looks back at the usually loquacious Miroku struggling for words.  
  
"Sango..." He pauses and feels a tug at his robes, distracting him. Kirara 'mews' up at him, takes a few steps in the opposite direction and looks back to 'mew' again. Waiting.  
  
"Houshi-sama."  
  
He faces her as she gently removes his hand and takes bow and quiver of arrows from off her shoulder..  
  
"Hurry." She gives them to him and nods at the impatient cat, "She's saying she knows where they are."  
  
He glances at the cat, who takes a few more steps and stops again to stare at him, before looking back into the young woman's calm face. "I..."  
  
She gives him a tiny push, "Go, I'll keep him here as long as I can," she promises. Then she turns around to follow the others through the doorway.  
  
Miroku is torn. The cat is tugging him in one direction while his heart is pulling him in another. He suddenly frowns,_ '...as long as I can?'_ His eyes widen, _'She knows she can't win!'_ He takes a step in her direction and stops with many clamorous thoughts rushing through his head, all the pros and cons... "DAMN!!" Spinning around, he trots after his twin-tailed guide.  
  
============  
  
A man comes running into the Arena Hall through the same doors where the Lord and his party had exited, probably a servant by the plainness of his clothing. He stops at the edge of the wooden platform, out of breath, and yells across to where the handlers were grouped, "Shinri!"  
  
One of handlers steps away from the rest and waves an arm to acknowledge the caller, "What is it?"  
  
The panting man calls out excitedly, "The Taijiya-san is going to fight another Taijiya in the courtyard! Come on!"  
  
Kagome was glaring daggers at her present captor and had only glanced at the hurried man when he appeared, but he now has her complete attention. _'Another Taijiya?'  
_  
The one called Shinri calls back, "Why should I? I see plenty of fighting in here!"  
  
"Ha!" His friend laughs, "I bet you've never seen a _Woman _fight!"  
  
'Sango!' Kagome glances at InuYasha who is still kneeling with his head down, and bites her lip to keep from calling out to him, 'If Sango is here, so to must Miroku! Hold on...just a little longer...'  
  
One of the other men scoffs loudly, "What are you talking about? What woman?"  
  
"The other Taijiya is a woman! And she challenged Akunin!" He looks at them and shakes his head, "I'm not waiting! Come or not!" The servant turns and runs back out the way he came.  
  
The group of men look to each other in amazement and, almost as one, they dash around the Cage, startling InuYasha into alertness with claws and fangs bared, past a shocked Kazuha and his charge to disappear through the doorway.  
  
Kazuha stares enviously at the doorway then looks around the cavernous room, empty save for himself, the girl and the Hanyou glaring at him from behind the bars of the Cage.  
  
InuYasha turns his attention to the bars of his prison and narrows his eyes with intent,_ 'Let's see just how strong they are.'_ He walks up to them and reaches out both hands, only to have them repulsed before he could touch them with a bright flash, the various charms and ofuda glowing brightly for a moment then fading.  
  
The sudden light blinds Kazuha for a moment. He tries to blink away the after images still blurring his vision and tightens his hold on the girl.  
  
Kagome ignores him, watching the glow fade and realizing that they weren't just decorations or fakes covering the Cage. She watches InuYasha step back, look down at his hands and snarl audibly.  
  
Kazuha is also watching and he gives a short laugh, "Is he _trying_ to fry himself?"  
  
Kagome glances at him and tries to yank her arm out of his grip, "Let me go!"  
  
He is still watching as the Hanyou reaches for the bars again and says unconcernedly while shaking his head, "It won't work..."  
  
She looks back at the Cage and sees InuYasha grit his teeth and quickly grab onto the bars causing the wards to flare again, the brightness growing the longer he holds on.  
  
The two humans squint at the glare, barely able to see the stubborn Hanyou as he continues to strain and growl with the effort of pulling on the bars, enduring the jolting energy that grows with each second.  
  
Finally, with one last burst, InuYasha is knocked back and several of the wards go up in flames to fall smoldering on the ground.  
  
Kagome pulls against the hold on her, "InuYasha!" When she can't break free, she turns on him, clawing at the hand on her arm, "Damn you! Let me go!"  
  
"Hey!" His free hand grabs her other wrist, "Knock it off!  
  
InuYasha sits up, shakes his head to clear the ringing in his ears and sees the struggle between the two. He climbs unsteadily to his feet, his eyes locked on them, and watches Kagome free one arm and twist around to elbow her opponent in the stomach, followed by a vicious stomp on his foot.  
  
Kazuha yelps and loses his hold on her, stumbling back a step from the hard shove she gives him before she turns to run towards the Cage. He immediately lurches after her and grabs hold of her hair, yanking her to a stop and flinging her to the ground, causing her to cry out.  
  
InuYasha, between one heartbeat and the next, leaps for the metal barrier with a feral snarl exposing fangs and with eyes glowing dangerously...his tenuous control broken.  
  
========  
  
The courtyard is ringed with spectators, richly-garbed nobles and curious workers mixed with well-armed guards. The low murmur of voices is a minor irritant compared to the smug confidence on Akunin's face.  
  
Sango draws her sword and prepares herself, her eyes focused on a person she'd hoped to never see again...and one she meant to kill if she could. _'...Father...guide me...'  
_  
Akunin takes a sweeping glance at their audience and puts his hand on his sword still in its sheath. He looks at her and asks, "My original offer still stands Sango. We could forget all this nonsense and-"  
  
She spits out, "I would kill myself first!" She grips her sword tighter, eyes narrowing, and she points at his face with the sword-tip, "At least my little gift has made your outside as ugly as your inside!"  
  
He frowns, his smile disappearing, his gaze turning dark and intense, "Maybe I should return the favor." His sword hisses out of its sheath to glint in the sunlight, "Don't expect me to hold back."  
  
"I won't," she assumes a fighting stance and takes a deep breath, bringing her sword into position, "and neither will I!"  
  
With a yell, Sango leaps forward to meet Akunin's slashing blade with her own, the resounding clang and slide of metal on metal silencing the watching crowd. She spins as she passes to block another blow aimed at her and dances out of reach, her hair whipping tail-like in her wake.  
  
Akunin whirls and follows with a rapid series of blows, each on caught on her blade and met with a returning frenzy of strikes equally parried by his weapon before they separate.  
  
He smiles in admiration from his side of yard and dips his sword in salute. "Good," he laughs briefly, "but not good enough."  
  
She grips her sword with both hands and assumes a different stance, raising an eyebrow to ask, "You're sure about that?"  
  
He pauses with a frown, looks down at the sluggishly bleeding cut on his right arm and then back up at her, grinning. "You've been practicing..." and he leaps forward again.  
  
She steps into the killing zone and deflects blow after blow before ducking a wide sweep and rolling on the ground into a crouch, aiming a low strike at his legs. He jumps back, inverts his momentum and comes back with a crushing blow from overhead. She rises, twists her left wrist popping out the hidden blade along her forearm and diverts his blade with this, knocking it aside and angling her own blade to graze his ribcage before he pivots out of reach.  
  
They both stand panting; she determined and ready, he still grinning. He puts his free hand to the shallow gash showing through his clothing and holds it up to look at the blood. His smile turns menacing and he wipes the blood on his leg before straightening and assuming a stance of his own. "I think I'm through playing now."  
  
Sango makes a scoffing noise, "Humph! Good! I would hate to think that that's the best you can do!"  
  
His eyes narrow even more and his blade winks in the late afternoon as it moves to parallel the ground. "You asked for it!" And he flings himself at her.  
  
======  
  
To Be Continued...  
  
AN – Gomen, mina. I just couldn't fit it all into one chapter. 


	8. Return final

Disclaimer – I do not own InuYasha or any of the characters. They are the property of the brilliant Rumiko Takahashi. This story is an individual creation that I hope is up to the quality of the real series.

**Chapter 8: Return**  
  
Kagome cries out when she hits the ground and she grabs the abused hank of hair to lessen the painful pulling on her scalp when she hears a deep throated growl and the piercing screech of twisting metal accompanied by a blinding flash. She looks up to see a transformed InuYasha, his face distorted with rage, burst through the broken wall of the Cage. He barely touches the ground to leap over her head and she instinctively brings her arm across her face in defense and ducks.  
  
Kazuha looks up at the tortured sound of the bars' destruction and sees the Hanyou's murderous visage barreling towards him. He screams in fear and, releasing the girl's hair, he stumbles back, reaching for the sword at his side...  
  
Kagome hears a second scream that is cut off abruptly and she twists around automatically. Her eyes widen in horror as InuYasha topples over sideways, curled around the sword that protrudes from his back, to lay next to the lifeless Kazuha.  
  
"No..." she gasps and flips to crawl hastily the few feet to him, the long hem of the Kimono a hindrance, "NO!" Staring at the grimace on his face, his normal face, she lays her hands on his arm but is afraid to move him. She glances at the sword and realizes it's, "Tessaiga! But how...?" She glances over at Kazuha with a questioning frown, then quickly away at his obviously dead form. Reaching for the hilt, her hand hesitates, "I..."  
  
InuYasha's eyes open to stare blindly for a moment, blinking away the haze of coming back to himself to focus on the torn throat and bloody flesh in his immediate view. Comprehension brings disgust, "Damnit!"  
  
"InuYasha?"  
  
He turns his head to look up at her, "Kagome..." and sighs with relief, _'...I didn't...'_ The slight movement jostles the blade and he winces, looking down at handle of his own sword and chuckles at the irony, "Keh!"  
  
"Kagome-sama!"  
  
She turns to the wonderful sight of their friend running up to them, robes swishing and staff jangling with a look of concern on his face. "Miroku-sama!"  
  
He stops a few feet away, only a little out of breath, and takes in everything in a glance, including the recently deceased and shakes his head. Looking at the impaled Hanyou, he drops his staff and removes the bow and quiver from his shoulder, handing them to Kagome. He steps around and bends down to grasp the sword's hilt, looking into the pain-filled golden eyes, "Gomen..." he pulls it free in one smooth motion.  
  
InuYasha gasps and Kagome grabs his arm when he moves to sit up, helping him. Both are careful to not look at the mangled remains nearby. She frowns at him, "Are you alright?"  
  
He nods, "Ah." He takes the Monk's offered hand and stands up with a grunt, straightening cautiously. He sighs deeply and steps over to the corpse, bending to remove Tessaiga's sheath from the man's belt. Upright again he glances at his hand, at the mingled blood on his claws, bows his head in resignation and holds the hand out to the side without looking; a silent request for his sword back. The handle touches his palm and his hand closes around the familiar weight.  
  
Kirara 'meows' urgently from the nearer doorway and all three turn to look. Kagome stands, wrestles off the long kimono and drops it in the dust, kicks it away and shoulders her quiver of arrows, "Miroku-sama, where is Sango- chan?"  
  
The Monk picks up his staff and starts walking towards the twin-tailed cat, "We must hurry! She's fighting Akunin..." he pauses and looks over his shoulder at them, "I don't think...that she can..."  
  
InuYasha wipes off his sword and nods, "Let's go!" He trots forward with Kagome close behind and they leave the grizzly scene to the deepening shadows.  
  
=========  
  
Biting on the leash leaves a metallic taste in his mouth, but Shippo hardly notices. Watching Sango fight that awful man has him in a tizzy and the fast paced duel shows no sign of slowing. The constant ringing of the clashing blades is deafening and the identically dressed combatants are a visual blur as each one tests the other's endurance and skill, pushing for more than was thought possible to give and then pushing for even more.  
  
Sango uses her speed once more to avoid being overpowered by the stronger Akunin. Forceful blows are deflected aside instead of straight-out blocking them and nimble feet and watchful eyes take advantage of every opening...there aren't many. She feels the sting of yet another cut, this time across her thigh, as she spins out of harms way, feeling her blade connect with flesh as well.  
  
They separate and face each other, circling the empty space in-between and neither dropping their guard. Sango is satisfied to see that he is breathing just as heavily as she is and she straightens, assuming a falsely casual posture, "I thought you were done playing?"  
  
He also appears to relax, adjusting his grip on the shorter second blade in his other hand and smiling. He wipes at a trickle of blood from a shallow cut on his jaw with the back of one hand, "Maybe it's more fun this way-" He throws the shorter blade aiming for her foot.  
  
She jumps automatically to one side that he anticipates, and has to hurriedly bring up her left arm-guard to block the deadly swing of his katana. She moves with the force of the blow to lessen the impact, but it still has enough to jolt her arm as she continues to back away.  
  
He ducks under one of her swings and retrieves his recently thrown blade, coming back up with a complicated two angled attack that occupies both of her weapons, forcing them aside and delivering a vicious kick to her midriff in the sudden opening he created.  
  
Her breath comes out in a whoosh with the force of the blow and she is knocked backward, off balance and falling. Her training allows her to tuck into the fall and roll out of it, flipping onto her feet with both weapons up and ready. She blinks, trying to regain her breath and is assailed again. The ferocity of his new attack is dizzying and difficult to keep up with; instinct takes over.  
  
She takes a chance and, beginning a particular move that is normally followed by another, breaks the cycle and swings down instead, marking his leg before spinning past, blocking a return stroke from behind with her left guard and pirouetting out of reach.  
  
Facing each other they circle the designated battle ground again, the surrounding crowd nonexistent and irrelevant in this life-or-death struggle.  
  
Sango breathes heavily and flexes her grip on her sword, _'I'm not hitting him hard enough...'_ The dozen-or-so blows she had managed to land were not accounting for much. She wishes she dared to spare a glance looking for her friends and renewed her vow to buy as much time as she can. One eyebrow rose tauntingly, "Getting old?" She tosses her head to flip her hair back over her shoulder, "Let me know if you need a break..."  
  
He digs one foot securely into the dirt, "Not if you don't." Akunin rushes in with a wide swipe that she dodges, turns sideways around the return thrust to avoid the razor edge of her blade and, stepping in close, he slams his shoulder into hers, knocking her to the ground.  
  
She glares up at his grinning face and hooks her foot behind his knee, pulling it forward and tipping him over, rolling safely away as he lands on his backside. Jumping to her feet, she hides a wince at the pain in her shoulder, ignoring it and warily watching him.  
  
He stands and matches her stance, his smile finally gone, "Last chance..."  
  
"You're the only one who thinks so," she said with contempt.  
  
He shrugs, "Have it your way!" He comes at her again, his rapid blows severely taxing her waning defenses.  
  
With eyes wide, Shippo watches everything. Including Sango's growing weariness that causes her to stumble once too often and how sluggish her arm has become after that last fall._ 'No!'_ He sees Akunin grin and redouble his attack. Shippo bares his teeth in anger and glances up at Narushi still holding the be-damned leash. _'I don't care...I need to do something!'  
_  
Fueled by his fury, he focuses on the hem of Narushi's robe and yells, **"KITSUNI BI!"** Blue-green flames shoot across the short distance to ignite the fragile silk; the flames quickly turn yellow and red, climbing upwards, spreading and consuming.  
  
Lord Narushi jumps up with a high-pitched scream and, dropping the leash, begins to flail around. His retainers look on in shock and back away for fear of burning themselves.  
  
Shippo turns his back on his success and runs toward the combatants without hesitation. Jumping up, he chomps down on Akunin's upper arm with his small fangs and sinks them into the man's flesh.  
  
Akunin grunts and drops the shorter blade in his left hand in surprise. He spares a quick glance at the shaggy-haired Kitsune latched onto his upper- arm and bangs the hilt of his sword down on Shippo's head in retaliation.  
  
Sango steps back and yells anxiously at the foolishly brave little youkai, "No Shippo! It's too dangerous!"  
  
Her distracted cry signals the opening he'd been waiting for and, ignoring the irritation clinging to his left arm, Akunin administers a powerful blow to knock the sword from her hand and, twisting his swing back, he thrusts his blade through her shoulder.  
  
Sango grabs at her disabled arm and, with her mouth open in surprise, takes a step back, tripping on his dropped blade. She gasps and lands hard on her back, the pain spreading and getting worse with each heartbeat.  
  
Still gripping onto Akunin's sleeve, Shippo involuntarily pulls back, removing his fangs, and calls out her name.  
  
Akunin makes a snarling sound, switches his sword to his other hand and grabs the dangling leash, hauling Shippo into the air to spin freely.  
  
Sango blinks away sudden tears and sees Akunin raise his sword in preparation to strike the helpless Kitsune who is clawing desperately at the strangling collar, and tries to sit up, "NO!"  
  
Akunin glances down, places a foot on her wounded shoulder and presses down to force her back, causing her to scream in pain. "I'll deal with you in a moment." He looks back at the red-faced Kitsune and raises his sword again, "I warned you..."  
  
========  
  
The hallways are deserted as the Monk, Hanyou and girl follow the tiny cat- youkai through every twist and turn, running to keep up.  
  
They pass through the empty chamber where he and Sango had confronted Akunin not long ago and Miroku calls over his shoulder to the other two, "We're almost there!"  
  
Turning a corner they see reddish-light from the setting sun streaming through the open doorway ahead of them and hear Sango's cry.  
  
Kirara growls and transforms, leaving the others behind as she leaps ahead to the outside and hurdles over the obstacle of people between her and her target. With no warning, she crosses the space in a flash to tackle Akunin and bear him down to the ground. Seizing the back of his neck with her gleaming fangs, she crushes the life out of him with an audible crunch.  
  
Shippo lies in the dust a few feet away, coughing and gasping while Sango has rolled over to stare at her beloved pet still holding her prey in her massive, blood-drenched jaws.  
  
The others arrive in the courtyard after pushing past screaming people yelling, "Fire!" or trying to escape from the, "Youkai who's going to eat us all!" Many shocked guardsmen drop their weapons and disappear just as quickly.  
  
Silence returns to the all-but-deserted courtyard except for Kirara's low growl and the stench of burnt flesh overlays all. Miroku hurries to the Taijiya's side and drops to his knees next to her while looking with concern at each visible mark from the wounds that she has endured, "Sango!" He puts his arm behind her to help her sit up and to support her. He frowns at her gasp and tries to pull her bloody hand away from her shoulder to better examine it.  
  
She resists and shakes her head at him, "It's not that bad-"  
  
He narrows his eyes in suspicion, "Then let me see for myself."  
  
"No," she says stubbornly and looks up with a pained smile to see her friends. "Kagome-chan! InuYasha!"  
  
Kagome rushes over to kneel on her other side, dropping the bow and taking her friend's hand carefully in hers, "Sango-chan!" Tears roll down the young girl's cheeks, "I'm so glad to see you!"  
  
InuYasha watches the happy reunion for a moment before his eyes slide back to the still-growling Kirara and his grip tightens reflexively on Tessaiga. He glances over at the smoldering heap on the far side of the yard and approaches the angry Cat-youkai cautiously, understanding the raging bloodlust that held her. He sheathes his sword and raises both hands up to show his peaceful intentions.  
  
She makes eye contact with him, flattens her ears and growls. He stops, still holding both hands up and waits for her to calm down.  
  
After a few tense minutes, her ears come forward and she drops the lifeless form with a feline grimace. Kirara turns her back on the dead thing to saunter over to the trio sitting on the ground, 'whuffing' and 'whining' in the back of her throat. She plops down and lays her head on Sango's leg to stare up at her mistress.  
  
InuYasha continues to stare down at the corpse, feeling cheated. _'You got it easy.'  
_  
Kagome has unfastened the neck of Sango's form-fitting top and is applying pressure to the shoulder wound with a folded pad of cloth that Miroku had produced upon request while the Monk tears up another piece of material to tie the pad in place. She suddenly blinks and looks up to scan the courtyard, asking, "Where's Shippo?"  
  
The others join her in looking around but the Kitsune is nowhere in sight.  
  
======  
  
Huddled miserably in his hiding place, Shippo hears his name being called over and over. He feels the tears start again and curls up with his hands covering his ears, hiccups making him shake._ 'I did it again...I made things worse...'_ He draws a shuddering breath, trying to be quiet,_ 'I just get in the way.'  
_  
He closes his eyes and doesn't see the dog-eared head appear in the opening of the empty barrel to look down at him.  
  
InuYasha stares at the ball of hair for a second before turning to wave at the others and motioning them to be quiet. Kagome rushes over followed by Sango supported solicitously by Miroku with Kirara bringing up the rear.  
  
They all look into the barrel then back at each other in confusion. Kagome lays her hands on the rim and looks down at the shaking Kitsune with a worried frown, "Shippo?"  
  
His head pops up with a gasp and he stares up at all of them, cringing back against the wooden side of the barrel with a cornered look.  
  
Her frown deepens, "What's wrong?"  
  
His lip trembles and more tears roll down his dirty little face and he yells, "Leave me alone!"  
  
Kagome leans back in surprise and he jumps out, startling them all, and hits the ground running.  
  
He is brought to a sudden halt by the collar still around his neck, yanking him off balance and flat on his back. He sits up, grabs the damn thing and turns his head to look at InuYasha's foot standing on the end of the leash. He hisses and pulls desperately at the leash but he can't free it. He finally gives up and sits with his head hanging, not looking at anything.  
  
Kagome shares a concerned look with InuYasha. He shrugs and watches her crouch next to Shippo. She gently touches his untidy-mop of hair making him flinch. "Shippo...why?" His silent tears are more serious than his usual loud whining.  
  
He hiccups and wipes at his eyes with his sleeve, still not looking at her, and whispers, "You're gonna hate me..."  
  
_"What?!"_ She sits back on her heels in shock. _"Never!"  
_  
He finally looks up at her through his loose hair, "But-"  
  
She looks at him and says in a firm tone, "You could _never_ do anything to make me hate you!"  
  
He blinks at her absolute statement and cries, "You're here because of me!"  
  
"Baka!"  
  
Everyone turns to look at InuYasha as he walks over to break the collar easily with his hands. "Of course we're here because of you!"  
  
Shippo stares at the silver-haired Hanyou in shock, while the others just stare.  
  
Sango whispers to the Monk at her side, "Tactless as ever." Miroku nods in agreement.  
  
Kagome moves behind the shocked Kitsune, puts her hands on the tiny shoulders and glares over his head at InuYasha, "How can you say such a thing?"  
  
InuYasha straightens and folds his arms, "Keh!" He turns his head to stare over the wall surrounding the grounds, "It doesn't matter what you think you might have done, Shippo. We would still be here." He glances sideways at the Kitsune still staring at him, "Understand?"  
  
Kagome eyes soften and she reaches into her pocket to pull out a bright blue ribbon, holding it out so Shippo can see.  
  
He glances at it and looks tearfully up at her questioning look and nods. He faces forward and she gathers his hair to tie it up with its usual jaunty bow.  
  
"There," she says with satisfaction, "good as new."  
  
Shippo sniffles and turns to leap into her arms, crying like a baby, _"Kagomeee!"  
_  
She hugs him and rests her cheek on his hair, smiling up at InuYasha.  
  
======  
  
The night is peaceful under the trees, stars twinkle overhead and the rustling leaves whisper like the breath of the forest. The campfire crackles comfortingly, keeping back the dark from the small circle of sleepers.  
  
The Taijiya, with her arm tied in a sling, is leaning against the large Kirara. The Monk is next to her with his right hand resting on her left one lying on the ground between them. The small Kitsune clings tightly even in his dreams to the young girl wrapped snugly in a borrowed red Haori.  
  
And up in the tree sits a silver-haired Hanyou with white dog-ears on top of his head, watching over them and fingering a small scrap of green cloth, his golden eyes somber.  
  
**The End  
**  
=====  
  
AN – I told you I would finish...see you can trust me! (hehehe) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, they make me all warm and squishy inside and I have to walk around smiling. Of course that makes others think I'm a Loony.

I just finished downloading the 3rd movie – "Swords of an Honorable Father" or "Sword of World Conquest" as it has been dubbed. So I'm going to celebrate by watching the Inu-tachi in what should be a Fantastic story. I would like to find out how that 'guy' got a hold of Sesshoumaru's arm...hmmm.  
  
I hope I will find another plot...wish me luck!  
  
Michelle - -


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